Are the New York Yankees too optimistic on the Aaron Judge discomfort?

After a year of unprecedented injuries for the New York Yankees last year, 39 injuries to 30 different players, are the Yankees on the precipice of another year of more than normal injuries?  Quite frankly, it seems that way.  Aaron Judge is still rehabbing from Tommy John, Luis Severino will miss the entire season with Tommy John surgery, James Paxton will out for a couple of months due to back surgery, Giancarlo Stanton with a grade one calf strain, and injury-ridden Yankee star player Aaron Judge with a mystery shoulder ailment.

So the regular season hasn’t even started, and the New York Yankees are already suffering the loss of nearly half of their pitching rotation and all of their outfielders.  That doesn’t sound like something to be overly optimistic about.  Last month I talked about the B team and how good they were last year, but I can assure you the Yankee front office would rather see their A team intact.  As of this point, the retained J.A. Happ will move up in the rotation, and we will likely see Jordon Montgomery as the fourth starter.  We still, with the season being just a few weeks away, have no idea who will take that fifth spot, although there are several contenders.  In the outfield, options include Mike Tauchman, Tyler Wade, Miguel Andujar, Zack Granite, and even Rosell Herrera.

Yankee Manager Aaron Boone is still optimistic about Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge being ready for opening day with Baltimore at Camden Yards.  Considering the history of injuries to these two players, there isn’t much reason to be optimistic.  Yes, Stanton’s injury is relatively minor, and he may very well be ready, but whether the Yankee’s new high paid “Glassman” remains healthy and plays as an everyday player in the outfield is still very questionable.

“It’s frustrating that we haven’t pinpointed exactly what it is, what’s caused the discomfort, so that’s the frustrating part,” Boone said referring to Aaron Judge. “But I would say I feel a little more optimistic as to where we’re at.”

How does that statement lead to optimism when Boone admittedly has no idea what’s wrong with Judge’s shoulder.  He has yet to play in any spring training games, yet Boone says if he can play in the last ten games, he will be ready.  Again, after an MRI and a battery of other tests have not shown what the problem is, how can you be optimistic.  Of course, Boone has to put his best face on the problem, but that is not going to make the problem suddenly disappear.  I think it is reasonable to say that the Yankees have mishandled injuries before, and they may be doing that again with Judge.  Two weeks ago, Boone said that they were shutting down Judge for a week, no throwing or hitting, yet two days later that had him hitting indoors.

“We’re in a holding pattern with it, just trying to figure out what exactly is going on,” Boone said. “We’re trying to get our arms around if we can pinpoint something that’s causing some of the discomfort. At this point we haven’t found that.”

When a battery of tests doesn’t reveal the problem, why do the Yankees take the best test last instead of first when it comes to a needed star player.  I know nothing, but I do know that a “Contrast MRI” shows problems when other tests don’t.  Aaron Judge is a big boy. He could withstand the side effects of a contrast MRI, which often include stinging, a flushed feeling, and even a headache.  For a contrast MRI, they inject a dye into an IV so that when the MRI is taken, certain tissues or blood vessels show up more clearly and in greater detail and reveal issues when other tests don’t. 

Over the offseason, the Yankee organization completely revamped its medical/conditioning/training staff with a new Medical director  Steve Donohue, who was the head trainer.  Tim Lentych now holds that position.  Eric Cressey took over as the club’s new Director of Player Health and Performance.  The new strength and conditioning coach is Brett McCabe, and the new Director of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation is Michael Schuk.  These changes are a good step forward, but the results will tell just how good.  While the New York Yankees look for their 28th World Championship, this writer believes that until the powers to be, become more aggressive in determining what injuries are affecting players; they will be doomed to another year of injured players being away from the playing field longer than they have too.