Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s rib and shoulder injuries are just as uncertain as Major League Baseball’s potential return this summer.
Manager Aaron Boone could provide no concrete updates of Judge’s progress in working back from the ailments — the shoulder shutting him down from baseball activities in February before it was announced that he suffered a fractured rib during a September game in March — when speaking with MLB Network Radio on Tuesday.
A CT scan has been scheduled for later this month, approximately in two weeks, to provide more clarity on a situation that remains frustratingly murky for Yankees fans.
Judge managed to play the remainder of the 2019 season and postseason despite that fractured rib thanks to painkillers.
While the Yankees training staff whiffed on properly identifying the injury, Judge intensively trained throughout the offseason on the heels of his team losing in the ALCS to the Houston Astros for a second time in three years. Obviously, that’s not a recipe for proper healing when it comes to a rib injury that needs rest and inactivity to properly heal.
After countless exams from the medical staff this spring, the stress fracture in the rib was finally revealed.
The Yankees prescribed rest in March, saying they would re-evaluate the injury in two weeks. If the bone wasn’t healing, the likelihood of needing surgery only increased.
But MLB’s shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic is only providing more time for Judge to rest up and allow that bone to heal considering Opening Day might not come until July 1. At least, that’s the hope amongst Yankees fans.
A lack of clarity on the situation approximately six weeks after Judge was to be re-evaluated doesn’t bode well for the Yankees slugger, who continues to battle injury issues.
In the previous two seasons, he missed a combined 110 games — a worrying statistic when considering Judge has only played one full season as a pro and recently celebrated his 28th birthday.
