New York Yankees’ star Aaron Judge has been dealing with a stress fracture in his first right rib that is believed to come from a play from last season in which he dove for a ball in the outfield. Judge had missed the first few games of Spring Training due to this and it wasn’t likely that he was going to be healthy for the originally scheduled Opening Day.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided an update on the star right fielder’s progress.
“He’s in Tampa,” Boone told to Yes Network’s Meredith Marakovits. “We’re using this time, he’s using this time to continue to heal. I don’t really have much more for you other than, obviously, it’s been very productive having the chance to have this time to allow that rib to heal. That is happening. But as for where he’s at exactly, we don’t have anything for you on that yet.”
This fractured rib has also resulted in a collapsed lung for Judge. Unaware of his injury when it happened, Judge continued to hit and workout following the postseason which likely caused even more damage.
Opening Day has been pushed back at least two months now, so this time off could be beneficial for the star slugger. Judge might be able to recover fully in time for the new Opening Day. Teammates James Paxton, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Hicks are in a similar situation as the MLB shutdown might allow these players to heal up before the pending season begins.