Yankees: Aaron Judge, new medical staff, what you need to know

New York Yankees, Aaron Judge
Oct 19, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros in game six of the 2019 ALCS playoff baseball series at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Alex Wilson revealed that the Yankees have finally figured out what has been causing Aaron Judge’s shoulder discomfort.  It’s not his shoulder at all; it’s a rib stress fracture.  New York Yankee Manager Aaron Boone announced the diagnosis Friday.  In his announcement, he tried to explain the long delay in finding out what has been nagging Judge since before the start of spring training:

“He ended up going through 10, 11, 12 different tests. My understanding is it’s a hard thing to find because you’re not going to find it in MRIs or different scans. He had MRIs on the shoulder, chest … bone scans, CT scans, X-rays, all these things, and it was this particular CT scan that ultimately found it.

“So for whatever reason, it’s an injury that was difficult to spot in the battery of tests that you have.”

One would wonder, with all these tests being taken over two weeks, how incompetent are the people giving these tests?  Well, as it turns out, this type of stress fracture that has been ailing Judge doesn’t show up in MRIs or even contrast MRIs, and it was only the lastest CT scan that found it.  Of course, if you were only looking at the shoulder, it might make it difficult to see a rib problem.  It certainly would seem that a professional medical staff should have been able to diagnose this earlier.

Whatever the case,  this means that Aaron Judge will be completely shut down for two weeks to see if the rest will solve the problem as it appears to be already healing, which brings up another issue.  If it’s improving, that means the original fracture happened earlier, much earlier.  Boone suggested it may have occurred in an Angels game back in September when he dove for a catch.  At that time, Judge felt discomfort, and they simply gave him a day off instead of investigating medically.

To be entirely fair, the Yankees over the offseason re-vamped the Medical and conditioning staff, and they really can’t be blamed for the injury problems the Yankee players are experiencing now because they all date back to last year with the exception of Giancarlo Stanton’s grade one calf strain.  James Paxton’s back surgery was due to a problem that showed up in the postseason.  Luis Severino, who missed all of last year except for the last two weeks of the season, was rehabbing from two issues.  During all of that, apparently, those checking his progress missed that he would need Tommy John surgery.  Aaron Hicks is also missing in action while he is rehabbing from his own Tommy John surgery.

Another issue to consider is Aaron Boone’s propensity to put a rosy outlook on everything, especially when reporting on medical issues.  But to be fair to him, he can only report on what medical professionals tell him.  As far as Judge is concerned, Boone has not ruled out the need for surgery:

“I wouldn’t say that’s off the table, but you wouldn’t want to do that right now, especially if the bone is healing,” Boone said when asked if surgery would be necessary.

There is one thing for sure, and that is that Yankees fans are tired and frustrated by these lingering medical problems that are just now being dealt with during spring training.  It is a sure thing now that Judge will not be available for the opening game in Baltimore on March 26th, and most likely, he will be absent for the first-night game under the dome at Tropicana Field in Tampa.  If it’s finally decided that he does need surgery, there may be few in the Judge’s chambers at Yankee Stadium for the home opener on April 2nd.  Yankee fans are hoping this situation resolves itself sooner than later.