
As the mystery regarding Aaron Judge’s shoulder and pectoral muscle build so does the irritation of New York Yankee officials. As spring training progresses, the lack of knowing what’s wrong with Judge causes more and more concern. General Manager Brian Cashman and Field Manager Aaron Boone are getting irritated by the constant questions about Judge, yet they also can provide no answers. After a battery of tests last week, and more tests on Monday and yet more on Wednesday, the New York Yankees have no clue as to what is causing Judges discomfort and keeping from participating in spring training.
Last night just before the start of the Yankees/Phillies game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, reporters questioned Cashman.
“I’ve got nothing more to give other than the fact that he’s still getting the tests,†General Manager Brian said before the Yankees/Phillies Grapefruit League game at Steinbrenner Field. “Once we have everything involved in play … I just don’t want to go through the same stuff as yesterday.”
Aaron Boone, when asked about Judge, gave the same answers or lack thereof.
“I got nothing for you,†Boone said. “Hopefully we’re getting to it, or where we’ll have an update for you, but for now I got nothing.â€
The longer the Yankees can’t answer questions about Judge, the greater the mystery becomes. Judge showed up for spring training days before the report date but has yet to take outdoor batting practice of play in any of the spring training games. Apparently he can do some conditioning exercises and can through, but he can’t swing a bat without some pain. Yet the Yankees keep making factless misstatements about Judge. Boone has said he feels Judge will be ready for the regular-season opener at Baltimore, and Cashman has said that he doesn’t feel Judge will need surgery, but yet neither have any idea as to what is wrong with him.
At the same game, Cashman was questioned by WFAN if he still felt Judge wouldn’t need any type of surgery and Cashman responded:
“I was optimistic yesterday because of how he’s feeling, so I’m not going to repeat anything further than what I said until they get everything done. There’s nothing more to say.â€
Another mystery is why the tests have not been completed, and why the New York Yankees haven’t taken the proactive approach by having Judge undergo a contrast MRI to get to the bottom of what is ailing him. The first regular-season game is now just three weeks away, and regardless of what anyone says, it is now very doubtful that Judge will be ready.
Judge had a fantastic season in 2017 hitting 52 home runs and came in second to Jose Altuve in the MVP contest. But since then, he has missed valuable time away from the field and not playing. In 2018 it was bad luck when he got hit and suffered a fractured wrist. In 2019 he had an oblique injury. Between those and other minor injuries, Judge has missed 110 games in the last two seasons.
Little by little, more information comes out about his present situation. It now appears that during January the shoulder ailment started as he began to start working out. But he made progress and threw up to 120 feet and hit from the tee indoors. But as he ramped up for the games, he developed yet another ailment a sore pectoral muscle that also caused discomfort. When Boone was asked about all the injuries to Judge, he responded.
“It’s just been. I guess it’s been hard just, you know, not getting that conclusion. What exactly is going on so I feel like we’re getting close to that and we’ll probably have some hopefully in the next day or so,†Boone said. “But. I think, for Aaron you know it’s been frustrating but like for all of us you know we want, we want to get to the bottom and get answers you know we need to do for him.â€
When Cashman was asked when the tests would be completed, he responded:
“When they tell me they’re done. Sorry. But hopefully sooner than later,†the GM said. “He’s obviously going through a series of tests. It’s not like one or two, it’s a number approaching 7-to-10 total, so they can make sure they have a full evaluation and determine what ails him and when they’re complete we’ll either be able to tell you we’re in the clear or we’ll be able to tell you that we have a full diagnosis and the timeframe and everything else like that.â€
So the New York Yankees still have no idea what’s wrong with Judge and therefore have no plan to prepare him for the regular season. Along with Judge, they also have Aaron Hicks, who will be out at least until June while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the third outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has a grade one calf strain. However, the outlook for him being ready for the Baltimore game is far more optimistic.
Reporters asked Judge in passing if he was going to be alright. Judge saving his words, simply said “yup.”