Had the regular season started when it was supposed to in late March, the Yankees would have had to go without the face of their franchise, right fielder Aaron Judge, for a lengthy period of time. A right rib fracture and a punctured lung slowed Judge during the first version of spring training this year, but the slugger now has a chance to be in the Yankees’ season-opening lineup in a month, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
Judge, whose injury problems first cropped up in February, has finally returned to hitting off a tee, per Boland. While that doesn’t mean he’ll be ready for Game 1 of the Yankees’ season, it’s still a a positive development for the club, which would have opened a normal season without three of its best outfield options in Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks. Each player was shelved with injuries during the spring, though we now know Hicks expects to return from his October 2019 Tommy John procedure once the season starts.
Like Hicks, Stanton – who dealt with a calf strain during the spring – is a near certainty right now to be part of New York’s opener, according to Boland. Injuries have been a major problem dating back to last season for Stanton, whose second year as a Yankee consisted of a mere 18 games.
I gotta 3 car garage with a Lambo, Ferrari and a Maserati.
Which one do you like to drive the most?
Um… they’re all getting worked on…
I wish I was a New York Yankee, then I could get paid lots of money to be worked on… But then again that money is gonna be worthless soon so, I’ll stick with my plants.
Problem is, your fourth car is a Yugo. I think it was called the ellsbury limited?
Guess that leaves walking…
See now you just sound dumb since Ellsbury is no longer a Yankee. The “backups” to Judge/Stanton/Hicks are Gardner (2019 WAR 4.1) and Tauchman (2019 WAR 3.8) which start on most teams. Keep hating…
Lol so true. I know the mob will burn my house down for saying this but let judge tear it up and then trade him before he hits FA. The last thing New York needs is another unhealthy player who’s making big money. His big frame won’t age well in the OF. So let me guess you guys are going to get mad and say “ well then he will be the dh”. The problem with that is you already have Sanchez there when not catching and Andujar will need to get reps in as well. Not sure what you do with him but he can’t keep going on like this. Just not feasible long term.
I agree. Let Judge re-establish value then trade him for a haul to someone willing to overlook the fact that his best season has likely come and gone, he’s obviously injury prone and exiting his prime.
I’m a huge Aaron Judge fan (and my favorite players have always been OBP Kings like him) but at this point Gleyber is the face of the franchise, maybe Cole too…Judge hasn’t yet lived up to the expectations after his rookie season although I still hope he does.
Cole… Shouldn’t the face of the franchise have played in at least one game with the franchise?
Very true but expectations are high in the same way that Judge was the “face of the franchise” coming out of his rookie year
Fair enough. I think Judge was the face so quickly because he was so great that first year. I’d just think Cole should probably throw a few quality innings in pinstripes before he gets the same treatment. Then again, with that contract, I suppose he’s the face whether he likes it or not.
“Face of a franchise” is a term that doesn’t mean all that much when it comes to production. Look at Ryan Zimmerman. He is the face of the Nationals, and since the arrivals of Strasburg, Harper, Rendon, etc. he has not been the best player on the team.
It’s just a media phrase. Relax everyone.
I’m the “face of my franchise” too. Don’t believe me? Just ask me.
Besides merch sales, exactly what does “face of the franchise” mean, and what value does it bring?
As a Diehard RS fan I hope Judge makes a good recovery. He’s a top notch player who as fans, we love to see compete. Restless Evil Empire fans need to appreciate the great team you have in every position. We all appreciate the NYY power.
We need more fans like you in the sport
agreed
I respect your support and wish I could watch a game with you
@pasha
Yeah,it gets frustrating, man.
All these fantastic players. Yet so many of our “fans” constantly ripping on these guys.
Eye opening that a red sox fan is pointing this out.
Judge seems like a great guy. Hope he can come back and have a great year. He’s such an exciting player when he can play.
155 games
112 games
102 games
less this year. (And it wouldve been less regardless of Covid)
Not a good trend.
Sounds like Travis hofner games played stats
You leave Pronk out of this.
This is old news.
First Yankee on the DL Stanton or HIcks? That’s a tough call.
Paxton
Severino
Gil Meche… but really, I’ll say Stanton
Gary Sanchez – groin strain by Game 5
Can’t imagine him not being ready to go after all this time.
Judge really needs an injury free season in 2021. If he can’t stay on the field (again), how can the Yankees feel comfortable signing him to a long term, top of the market extension? It might benefit him to slow down the weight lifting and work more on his core strength and flexibility. There’s just not enough time to allow the muscles to heal during the MLB season after a power lifting workout (which he does often). He’ll still be plenty strong enough to hit 40+ bombs but he has to be on the field in order to do so.
Although he did have that oblique strain last year, his other two major injuries were a broken wrist from a hit by pitch, and the weird misdiagnosed first rib fracture. Adjusting training isn’t going to avoid that stuff. Just bad luck.
Judge is an avid bench presser and if you watch his workouts, he maximizes the weight and bounces the bar off of his chest. While this is pure speculation on my part, I wouldn’t be surprised if he cracked his rib (or made an existing game day injury worse) by bouncing so much weight off of his chest. Even someone in his shape needs rest for their muscles after such workouts and a 162 game schedule doesn’t allow for it. The muscles tighten up after the workout to repair themselves, so he is much more likely to have an oblique strain or significant muscle pull vs. a player who works with much lighter weights and focuses primarily on exercises to lengthen muscles and improve flexibility. Same goes for Stanton. Not at all surprised that he had a significant calf strain; the guy squats 600 pounds! Great for strength training but not optimal for a sport that requires long, lean muscle mass.
Riiiiiiight ….. bet he squats 600 in a half rep maybe. Not happening bro. He does not legitimately hit a parallel squat with 600, no way. Even if he did….. your telling me that’s natural? I been in gyms since I was 14 years old. Been around world class powerlifters and bodybuilders. I may have met two guys who could squat 6+ naturally. Maybe that’s why he hurts himself so much….. it ain’t the rest it’s the test!
Judge also had the oblique strain in 2016 after he got called up
Yankees have a lot of star players who are in their prime. They need to stay healthy and they should get a championship within 2 years.
A-rod put a curse on the yankees. They aren’t going to win for a long time. 🙁
Yeah it’s all a rods fault right…. you wouldn’t have won the 2009 series without him. He totally crushed the crap out of everyone that whole post season.
But yea, it’s all your fault Alex lol. What a loser comment.
2 years. What would stop them from doing it this year. And next
The Dodgers or Astros
Astros????? That’s funny
Does anyone really know what type of package the Yankees would want for Clint Frazier? The kid seems like he just needs a real chance to play and while he’s always “dangled” as a piece to various trade packages, the Yanks always deem the offer(s) as inadequate… which is odd since they also don’t pave a way for him to play.
Clint Frazier, Andujar, Devi Garcia for Luis Castillo
Lmao
Please don’t drink and drive, mlbnyyfan. That package would not have any chance of getting any pitcher of the caliber of Castillo.
After Cole gets hurt this season we will see what kind of package Frazier gets dealt with.
Frazier is an overrated, 25 year old prospect. Slightly above average bat with below average defense. This is why he hasn’t forced his way onto the 25 man roster for a full season. Mike Tauchman beat him out last year! While Tauchman had a decent season, he’s a 4th or 5th OF on at least 27 other MLB teams so Frazier’s organizational value is low and the league most likely feels the same way. You might get a middle-innings bullpen pitcher for him or a young lottery ticket. But he’s not going to bring back any true value on his own. He’d have to be packaged with other (better) prospects to get something of real value.
Frazier didn’t do himself any favors with his poor attitude after getting sent down.
He needs to know his role, and place, in an organization. Do the right things, do what’s asked of you, and the playing time (and $$$) will follow.
A right rib fracture and a punctured lung. I would not be too excited to mess with COVID if I was coming off those injuries. Full speed ahead.
I hope they all stay healthy(and I’m not a Yankee fan) they are good for the sport. But I do worry about how long Stanton will stay healthy. His history in that regard is against him.
Injuries (and positive COVID tests) are going to have a massive impact on the entire league this year. Two trips to the 10-day IL means a player misses 33% of the season! Boone has a tough job this year. If Stanton or Judge feel sore, in a normal season he would give them 1-2 games off to heal but with only 60 games this year Boone might feel the pressure to put his best players in every game, risking a minor issue turning into a major one. While I realize every manager will have the same tough choices, Judge & Stanton might be the best pure power tandem in MLB and also the most fragile tandem in baseball. One oblique strain for either one will cost them 80%+ of the regular season (6 to 8 weeks). Let’s hope they can both stay healthy as baseball is a much better product with its stars on the field. I’m just not sure either one will be able to do it.
Since the Red Sox embarrassed them in 2004 and even before that and especially since then, the yankees approach every game like it’s for a whirled champion ship, and that’s why all their seasons go down in the flames of an overused bullpen and bad decision making and arduously long and tedious run-on sentences.
Whats your over/under for Judge games played? 25…
My Red Sox fandom aside, a broken rib punctured his lung?!?!?!? He gets a pass until 2023 in my book. That’s tough…
Judge becomes a free agent after the 2022 season (in which he’ll be 31 years old). If he had a better health history, one would think the Yankees would try to buy out his 2 remaining arbitration years and sign him to a 5-6 year mega-deal at the end of 2020. However, given his injury history and the current pandemic, I don’t see the Yankees doing this. He’s also not likely to get the normal arbitration raise for 2021 after a 60 game season even if he has a monster 2020. Then 2021 looms with an expiring CBA contract and a potential work stoppage. When he finally hits free agency in 2022, how many years will the Yankees be willing to commit to a 31 year old and at what cost? What will his injury history look like then? Will he have lost a few steps and no longer be an everyday OF? With such immense talent, he’s really a tough guy to predict future earnings for. He may never see a $100M+ contract…that’s crazy given the contracts less talented veterans have signed in years past.
The Mangled Brothers
The Bruised Brothers
Anyone remember Joe Charboneau with Cleveland? He was the cats meow & ROY in 1980. Potential plus. Sad to see Judge going the same way. How can a guy so big & so strong be hurt so much? Too much weight lifting? I hope he bounces back but we have a pattern developing here.
I think for some people being big and strong is what makes them injury prone. Some human bodies react well to being so above average in size but many more suffer from chronic problems. One of the biggest questions of Judge’s abilities when he was coming up was how someone his extreme height would handle fastballs and the daily grind.
Frank Howard was also 6’7″ tall and he had a long career, but he didn’t have that huge, muscular physique. Sometimes I think all those muscles make you brittle. Just my opinion.