It was this morning in Ramsey, New Jersey that a guy showed up at Don Bosco Prep School field, the guy was New York Yankees Aaron Judge. Judge was dressed in a Yankee cap, a white T-shirt and dark blue shorts. The apparently secret practice was arranged by Jason Ferber, the well-known New York-based baseball coach.
Aaron Judge got behind the plate and started hitting homer after homer that laughed at the field fences before the ball traveling into the woods. Ferber said: What fractured rib he looks super healthy right now.â€
Looking at the video below has to be heartened to New York Yankee fans. But be warned not to take too much stock in what you see. Playing a grueling 60 game season in 66 days with the stress involved is very different than a short batting practice.
Aaron Judge suffered a stress fracture in his first rib diving for a catch at Yankee Stadium late last season. It started showing up as shoulder pain that Judge endured during the offseason and continued in spring training 1.0. It was finally found to be a collapsed lung and rib fracture after a battery of tests and MRIs. The collapsed lung has resolved itself, but the rib fracture has been slow to heal.
Both General Manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone have indicated that they are optimistic that Judge will be ready to start the season, but have not ruled out that he may miss at least a few games. Boone yesterday said that summer camp 2.0 would be telling with many of the previously injured players.
Players started to arrive at Yankee Stadium yesterday to begin two days of physical exams and testing, including Masahiro Tanaka that has arrived back from Japan. It appears after watching the video of Judge today that the Yankees may be being conservative with their comments on Judge’s recovery. Time will tell.