The New York Yankees are still holding their breath regarding Gerrit Cole and his elbow injury. Cole traveled to Los Angeles to get further opinions on the severity of the issue and build a rehab plan that will help him return in 2024.
For now, the optimistic viewpoint is that Cole will be out for at least 1–2 months, but as long as he returns this year, most Yankee fans will breathe a sigh of relief. However, a lot more needs to happen before there’s 100% confidence that Cole will rebound, but he wasn’t the only superstar who received an MRI this week.
Slugger Aaron Judge also underwent imaging to determine the severity of an abdominal issue he was experiencing. Fortunately, everything came back clean, and Judge seems to have dodged a much more serious issue.
The Yankees At Least Know They Dodged One Big Injury
Oblique injuries can be cumbersome, but the Yankees’ best player is already working his way back into the lineup in a few days. Aaron Boone indicated that they just wanted to give Judge a few days off to rest after a busy winter that included a significant amount of batting practice.
Judge is coming off a 2023 season that saw him deal with a serious toe injury, allowing him to play only 106 games. However, he still managed to hit .267/.406/.613, including 37 homers and 75 RBIs. Judge remains the team’s most lethal offensive weapon, but adding Juan Soto certainly will help balance the unit and give the Yankees a dynamic one–two punch.