After reports of New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge suffering a shoulder injury hit the news, mass hysteria ensued. Luckily, the ailment is a result of training too hard int he weeks leading up to spring training. A bit of soreness and crankiness was the culprit, according to manager, Aaron Boone.
Resting his shoulder for three days enabled him to begin swinging a bat and hitting off a tee, which should indicate him being close to returning to full batting practice.
The Yankees, though, start Grapefruit League play in Tampa on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays. Judge projects to join the team next week in live-action play, as the Yankees are taking all precautions with this injury.
“It probably started a couple weeks ago, when I first got down here,†Judge said. “I’ve been hitting since early November, and working out since early November, and once I got down here, I hit on the field, hitting outside.
“I just thought it’d be best to — I just felt a little soreness up in the shoulder. Nothing alarming, nothing that I was like, ‘Hey, we need to really check this out.’ So I said, ‘Hey, we got plenty of time going into spring training, let’s take it slow these next couple days, make sure everything’s right, and then kind of go from there.’”
While it’s calming to know that Judge has been working hard on improving his craft in recent months, straining his body isn’t ideal before spring training play. Ensuring he’s 100% healthy before resuming activities is necessary, but light practice is encouraged so he can get into the swing of things seamlessly (pun intended).
The New York Yankees need to be careful with their star slugger:
Judge is beginning to earn a reputation of always being injured, and his latest issue hasn’t calmed that narrative. The 2017 campaign was his only near-season of complete health, and he launched 52 homers. He missed 45 games in 2018 and 54 games in 2019.
The hope is he can remain healthy in 2020, contributing towards a Yankee goal of making the World Series, an achievement that has evaded them for the past decade.