8:17pm: Judge left after experiencing tightness in his “calf area,” manager Aaron Boone told James Wagner of the New York Times and other reporters. Asked about a potential MRI for Judge, Boone said, “We’ll see.”
8:06pm: Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge didn’t get through his entire first game in his return from the 10-day injured list Wednesday. Judge departed after five innings against the Braves, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. It’s unclear why Judge exited, but the team replaced him with Clint Frazier while nursing a 1-0 lead.
Judge’s latest IL stint came as a result of a mild right calf strain that shelved him for the minimum period of time. Yet another notable injury for Judge would be a significant blow to an injury-battered New York club that entered Wednesday night with four straight losses and now sits a game and a half back of the Rays in the AL East. The Yankees do own a wild-card spot right now, but they’re in a weakened state with DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, James Paxton and Zack Britton on the IL.
As has been the case throughout his career, Judge has been one of the driving forces behind the Yankees’ success this year. The hulking slugger has slashed .292/.343/.748 with nine home runs in 71 plate appearances a month into 2020. There’s no realistic hope of replacing that production, though Frazier, Aaron Hicks and Mike Tauchman have also provided above-average numbers from the Yankees’ outfield. On the other hand, the long-steady Brett Gardner has gotten off to a woeful start this year.
That didn’t take long.
Players that big and that muscular are injuries waiting to happen.
Like Frank Thomas and Dave Winfield, among others?
Very unfortunate. As a Sox fan, I try to be unbiased. Great talent who just can’t stay on the field. Imagine how much his health has cost him. Had he stayed healthy, $200m + deal was certainly awaiting him in free agency. Now, ???
Yankees will still get give Jusge that 200m + deal
The clubs do take out injury insurance policies on players and are able to recoup a % of their salary payments. So a large contract isn’t that bad if the player is often hurt. Your paying for the potential and will gladly pay if it’s there. It’s a lot better than it used to be when the owners paid for previous performance, the player then sucks but is never hurt and they pay it all out and get nothing back and no production to boot.
No, Thomas & Winfield were just naturally huge human beings. While Judge has a big frame himself, he is a bodybuilder. Bodybuilders don’t fare well in baseball because their workouts cause their muscles to become way too tight and it’s very hard to get loose enough to play a game with so many hard stops and starts. Until Judge puts down the weights and focuses mostly on flexibility and core strengthening, this will continue to plague him every season.
You’re dreaming unless the new CBA radically changes and Judge suddenly stays healthy.
Thomas wasn’t naturally huge, he was a bodybuilder (a pretty extreme one). And he’d have been hurt a lot more if he hadn’t become a DH so young, probably.
That has to die with stretching and flexibility, you can build muscle to a degree and still maintain flexibility. I agree with you generally though, often people focusing more on anaerobic exercise often neglect the additional stretching of the muscle fibers needed when building muscle mass.
To do* not die
Frank Thomas came out of the womb at 200 lbs! The guy is massive. Yes he lifted weights but he never was a body builder. Much different than what Judge does. FT played a lot of first base in his time too (early on of course).
This is completely inaccurate
with his injury history, I don’t see a huge contract being insured by an insurance company. he’s insurable due to chronic injuries
nugenix
I doubt it when he signs with the Angels for $250 million
Thomas was a DH. Winfield did not play at a time when players lifted even half as much as today and weighed 50 lbs or less than Judge.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
Why give him a contract? He can’t stay healthy. I know the talks about being the “face of the franchise”, but you cannot be the face of the franchise if you cannot play.
You mean Uninsurable like earthquake coverage in California
Where did you get your personal trainer certification? Or are you a doctor?
Thomas and Winfield are the exceptions. Point still stands that hitters that big often have a lot of problems staying healthy and athletic and keeping the swing compact enough to succeed.
@cty…said the leprechaun
You’re telling me. This guy is going to be a one hit wonder. It’s ridiculous, you have to hold your breath when either he or Stanton moves.
Judge and Stanton need to ease back on the weight room.
I don’t like this headline. Maybe he just had to poop. Just because he has an injury history doesn’t mean he left the game with an injury
A big enough poop to rehurt himself lol
Be careful with you vague nerve.
*Vagus* damn autocorrect is killin’ me
Headline is okay now. It was indeed an injury. Also every time Judge poops, he has 50% chance of going on the IL. Guy can’t catch a break.
Does he poop over a pool with laser outfitted sharks?!? 50% seems a tad high but understandable if this is the case…
Man, I love the dude, but he sure gets injured frequently. Definitely going to hurt his bottom line when it comes time for him to reach a payday. Considering his age when he will hit free agency, and his injury frequency, I really can’t see him getting a huge deal.
agreed
People said the same thing about Stanton. All it takes is one awesome season at the right time before his next contract, and teams will once again be tantalized over the prospect of what he COULD do if he could stay healthy. I don’t see him having an issue getting a massive payday.
to be fair, most of Stanton’s early injuries were fluky (ie hit in face with pitch, strained muscle swinging too hard, etc) didnt become chronic until after the contract.
Phnxdark 23, I just wrote the opposite, not seeing your post. Even if he has a great season leading up to free agency, even the Yankees will be hesitant to tack on years. Perhaps a creative deal like Boston did with Lackey could be worked out but he only has two more years to prove his health.
getting embarrassing
Beyond embarrassing. Yanks should eventually cut ties with Judge. They have many other options. He’s a bigger Greg Bird, he’s just not worth it.
Tightened calf while running the bases per Boone. Incredible
Omg that poor kid. What is wrong? It must be related to his physical size. That would not surprise me.
It’s karma injury bc he’s a cheater.
Cheating? Take another hit on the bong pipe maybe it’ll clear your head.
The upvotes of his comment says you might clueless darth
His usage of karma is incorrect. It’s not in this life be the next one when you would get what is coming.
Bong pipe?
I laughed at that
Yes, upvotes on a sports rumors forum ( where no restrictions are utilized to validate users) indicate credibility. Not hard to see clepto’s potential dual diagnosis.
You sound like you breathe through your mouth.
this isn’t altuve, jb
It would be hard to hand him a huge contract. Bummer
Bummer. It would be hard to hand this dude a big contract when the time comes
Didn’t realize that app posted the original comment. My mistake
Perhaps Cashman should consider selling some pieces for reinforcements next year? I’m a big Yankee fan but you can’t be considered a great player if you’re never on the field.
Not challenging you…that post made me think. What could you get for Judge? I think they have to keep him and take a chance.
You’d obviously need to dump him after he gets hot again and stays healthy for a stretch. For example, he comes back in a week or so and stays in for the remainder of the season with nice numbers. Then I’d ditch him.
The Bronx softies are at it again. I am done with baseball I will never watch another game !
Why would you never watch another game? This doesn’t make any sense.
If you don’t watch, do they really get hurt? Oldtime is just testing his theory on player safety.
Thanks Oldtimer!
I’m a die hard Yankee fan.
Time has come to trade Stanton and Judge.
They are never healthy.
Stay out of the workout room in the off season.
No one is touching that Stanton contract. As for Judge, tough to get fair value for an amazing talent who is always hurt. These guys are Yankees for the long haul, for better or worse.
@von purple
“Tough to get fair value for an amazing talent who is always hurt.” No. It’s super easy! Barely an inconvenience! Simply take into account that he is always injured when you do your ask. Plan your return accordingly. You won’t get the return you would expect if he was healthy, but since he isnt, that’s fair!
He has negative value so its how much money are you sending along
At least until Judge hits free agency after 22.
Trade Stanton to who and for what after paying how much of the contract?
and never mind the no trade clause thing… stanton is here to stay and cash is not letting judge go….the only question is how much cash cash gives the Judge and how bad it looks as he ages…..
sad- cause these guys have mad skills
dave frost nhlpa No other team wants Stanton with that contract attached either. I don’t think it’s too crazy to consider moving Judge but the only scenario I see that happening is if Judge is set to hit FA after the season and the Yankees aren’t competitive that year.
Judge is a huge fan favorite and great personality for NY, and to have in their clubhouse. Arguably the face of the franchise these days too.
The face of the pines.
The only way Stanton gets moved is if the Yankees eat 50 – 60% of the money owed to him over the 7-8? years remaining on his deal. If they were to find a team willing to do this, they’d have to take back a bad contract too (like an Upton) and wouldn’t get much of a prospect back either. The Stanton deal was by far the worst move of Cashman’s career. It was easy to see he was Pujols 2.0 and his contract has already become an albatross while he’s still in his prime. Imagine how bad it will be in 2-3 years? They’d better be careful with the upcoming Judge contract as it looks like he could very well be Stanton 2.0 and having these 2 huge salaries along with Cole’s could sink the club for a 1/2 decade, unless they are willing to spend $300M+ per year and pay the steep penalties / draft pick losses associated with exceeding the CBT max threshold. The Yankees will already be in CBT purgatory next year even with Judge a year away from free agency. It only gets worse from there as Torres will continue to see a huge raise in salary. In 2-3 years, they could have 5 players making close to $150M/yr. It seems like some major trades/payroll trimming might in New York’s future, so perhaps they do end up trading Judge after all.
They wont be able to trade Stanton- They wont trade Judge they will just let his contract expire and keep their eye on the bidding when it unfolds-
The Yankees payroll is actually very very manageable starting just next year and they would have no problem operating next year under the CBT and be highly competitve as well
Now they might not be able to re-sign a Dj Lemiue or pick up a gardner option but for the most part your going to see the big guys signed here play with each other for quite a while
There is no way the Yankees start next season under the CBT unless they are willing to tank the season to reset. The already have $140M in guaranteed contracts, with 9 or 10 players arbitration eligible (including Judge, Torres & Sanchez) and they are losing 3 starting pitchers to free agency. The only way they stay under the CBT would be to not sign a single starting pitcher, let DJL walk, do not pick up Gardner’s option and most likely non-tender Sanchez and let him walk too. This would significantly weaken the Yankees roster and I just don’t see them doing that.
I think of Carl Pavano every time I see them.
I love how announcers, especially faux and espn ones, drool over what specimens judge and stanton are. Physical stature don’t mean squat in baseball if you can’t stay on the field.
guys like him and Stanton have massive potential, but just cant stay healthy
massive muscles are injury prone.
Can this man please quit getting injured? I’d love to see Clint in a Rangers uni, but it ain’t gonna happen if Judge keeps getting hurt.
make an offer…..
@Rangers29- yeah with these injuries to Stanton and Judge the Yankees are probably going to have to hold on to Frazier & Andujar for now. I expect them to be here after the deadline.
Andujar has to show his rookie season wasn’t a freak thing as his value gets lower each day. Reminds me of Bennie in Boston whose value has continued to decline since his great catch against Houston in 18. At least Bennie is a good fielder.
I guess he came back to soon. He was trying to come back last week. Yankees might have to purchase a Judge-O-Meter to keep track of all his injuries. smh
A Popiel Judge-o-meter. Picturing the infomercial.
If he spent the minimum number of days on the IL, there was no way he could have come back last week.
2nd place team, 3rd place talent
The Yankees should just tell people when they aren’t on the IL.
@Rangers29. Forget Frazier. Let’s make a deal Stanton for Odor.
who in their right mind would trade for stanton???,,
Yankee ownership.
I said right mind
If the Yankees take on the full amount owed to Odor and agree to pay 50% of Stanton’s remaining contract obligations then Texas just might bite on that. Miami still owes NY close to $30M towards the Stanton contract (I believe $20M next year if he doesn’t opt out, plus the $10M buyout on his option year the end of the contract). Texas would take on about $100M for the next 7 years of his deal if this were to happen.
I dont go anywhere near that if Im Tay-has
Only Bos-LA could pull this catastophe off and that would have to be pre-pandemic
Thank the Good Lord that Refsnyder is available.
For the record I’m been saying the last few months if Judge misses anymore significant time again. TRADE HIM!!!!!
But who would want him? He’s always broken. Maybe the Yankees could get a used bandage for him…
As a fellow Yankees fan, I’m truly embarrassed by your comment.
Meanwhile, the Yankees signed Pittsburgh Gerrit Cole and not the Houston version
Yep, still good though. He lost the best pitching coach in baseball (Brent Strom) and he’s no longer throwing to a good receiver (Martin Maldonado).
Still surprised nothing came out about the Astros altering baseballs
Trevor Bauer already exposed that
If pine tar and gum were what they were using them the whole league is guilty too.
Give Cole and everyone else a pass on this season.
” here comes da judge” …..” there goes da judge”
Softie
What a shock! Aaron Judge injured?!?!?!?!? I am so tired of this guy. Lay off the weights and just do baseball exercises.Muscles don’t help if they continue to fail. Jerk.
Judge and Stanton – the Balsa Boys.
Hanz & Franz
Didn’t Judge say he felt fine last time? Now ten days later it happens right away
Despite the injuries the Yankees could still get a huge haul for him if they decided to trade him. They have depth and a need for starting pitching. Maybe to Cleveland for Clevinger and Lindor? I know that’s unrealistic, just having fun speculating
Lindor and Clevinger?
If Cleveland traded Lindor for Judge, you’d have to ADD to Judge to get Lindor. Cleveland would never add to Lindor for Judge.
Lindor is every bit the star Judge is, plays a premium position and is not always hurt. Lindor has 30/20 talent. LOL, then you want an ace pitcher on top of it?
Bro Yankee fans are delusional lol. Some Yankees fans told me andujar Frazier Montgomery and Florial for Degrom was a good trade.
Tough being the “other” baseball team in New York isn’t it Mr Met.
Don’t worry the Long Island Press usually runs story or 2 on your team occasionally!
@MetsFan22 You have no right calling other fans delusional when you consistently have ridiculous takes in these comment sections about your Mets lmao, you’re just as dumb and biased as the rest of us.
Cleveland is a low budget team. They cut their payroll to under $100M this season. There is no way they’d trade Lindor for Judge when they’ll have to pay Judge $25M-$30M starting in 2022. Cleveland wants young, controllable stars for any deal that’s includes Lindor or Clevinger. If they could somehow find that money, they’d just resign Lindor as he is more valuable than Judge for sure. 30 out of 30 GMs would take Lindor over Judge; all around he’s the superior player.
Who says beside me that Yankees are done this season?
I wouldn’t. They could go under .500 for the rest of the season and still make a playoff spot.
The Yankees biggest injury this year is DJL. He is the cog that makes their entire offense click. If they can get DJL back along with 1-2 others then I would not count them out. They still have a great bullpen and Tanaka seems to be turning a corner. They just need a 3rd starter to step up and they could be very dangerous come playoff time.
Must be karma from their sign stealing scandal. that’s what all the kids are saying these days.
Yasiel Puig anyone??
by the way, what has been “above average” about Hicks’s production so far?
Nothing!
He’s an 80 game a season ballplayer who teases you with the occasional hot streak.
Bad bet by Cash to depend on him.
well, he’s an outstanding CF.
Defensively, yes, but there are plenty of outstanding, glove first center fielders that can be had in place of him, especially since he can’t stay on the field for 140 games given his past injury history and Boone’s managing of the lineup because of it!
I proposed a question a few years ago, would you rather 8 years of judge or Conforto and I got laughed away. My argument being that he will breakdown a lot faster than an above average player who has a “normal” body style. Now I know anyone can breakdown at any point but the odds are and we’re a lot higher in judges direction and that seems to be fully the truth
Some Yankee fans spittballing the idea of trading Judge. It’s a little difficult putting my finger on how much I myself value him so I’m curious.
What kind of package does everyone think it would take to land him? Everyone is welcome to comment of course but I’m really hoping to see some Yankee fans responses.
I believe Judge has two years of control left, but it’s going to be an expensive two years via arbitration. Given his injury history, the Yankees wouldn’t get fair value for him, but they should be able to net (2) Top 100-125 prospects plus a veteran to help offset his increasing arbitration salaries. It really depends on what the Yankees are looking for. They might want younger MLB players who have already proven themselves in the majors instead of prospects since they are built to contend now. Judge seems to be the face of the Yankees so I highly doubt they do trade him unless they determine they need to get under the CBT and cannot find a way to move their other expensive players.
I said value for value only because I was interested in how much he is worth. So for my purposes, I wasn’t interested in what the Yankees need. Just value in a vacuum.
You put up a pretty reasonable outline. When I saw you had replied, I knew it wouldn’t be rediculous whether I agreed or not.
I wanted value in a vacuum and I knew that might not be simple because, for example, you mention an intangible that can’t be dismissed because it’s two important. He’s the face of the franchise.
Can’t really look at it in a vacuum. For the team trading for him, are they within a two-year window to win? Are they in rebuild mode and want to have a clubhouse leader hoping to extend him? Are they looking into rebuilding his value and flipping him before he reaches FA?
Prom Queens in the Bronx. Often broke, usually injured and what’s left is underperforming. Gio Urshela and Luke Voit won’t win you very many games without a supporting cast. Who crowned “Homer” Cole the greatest pitcher ever? Maybe we can trade for David Phelps?
gotta love you fake ass fans,
True Jam, aside from Cub and Card fans, Ynk fans are a low brow crowd. Honorable mention to Mets and BSox. Just dont get itx or anything in life
judge is another one who can’t stay on the field a full season without spending time on the injured list i think the yankees need a new medical staff too
Geez man, those new roids really mess your body up…
Very true
I’m starting to think there’s issues with stretching and staying loose with the Yankees organization. Stanton got hurt in a double header and now Judge got hurt, or whatever is wrong with him, after sitting the first game of a double header and starting the second.
Omg do these guys not stretch!? I don’t get it
There go the Judge, again…
As a Yankee fan this guy is not worth it! Him and Stanton need to go in a package deal. Both not worth the money.
Light out uh huh glass glass glass. These guys can’t stay healthy… it’s embarrassing. Hopefully Cash pulls something off for a pitcher and a outfielder. What makes me laugh is the guy everyone wants to get rid of.. Gardy is always ready to play
Samuel L Jackson starting as Aaron Judge in Yankee Glass Factory.
To bigjonempire who wrote, I have no idea what I am talking about – I do – been a Yankee fan since 1956 and have been a Little league assistant coach.
i think the player the yankees miss the most is dj
last 2 years Judge has missed 110 games out of 324. he is 28 yrs old and supposed to be in the prime of his health. Being a lifetime Yankee fan…to this point he epitomizes what this organization needs. A seemingly class act, ….popular among teammates, a leader in the dugout. and oh yea…a devastating hitter to go along with Gold glove ability.. A “dream” player…..but if he continues to get hurt consistently,… and not talking about little ‘dings” here and there…….I just do not see how a multi year contract for him makes sense…I know there are still a few years to go before thinking about that….but just saying. To be absolutely open minded…wonder what he could fetch in a realistic trade scenario. Stanton is another story…..I think he is untradeable.
frank howard ever get this injured? Frank Thomas? Richie sexson? Randy johnson?…maybe the guy is made of glass