David Lennon: Yankees' Aaron Judge breaks silence on slow-healing rib injury, says he'll be back this season
Yankees' Aaron Judge works out on the field before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Aaron Judge made a rare appearance during the Yankees’ pregame stretch Wednesday afternoon, transforming the typically mundane event into a landmark moment. For the first time in months, Judge was a participant, wearing pinstriped pants and, at the very least, looking the part of an active player.
But that relatively brief cameo, which included some light jogging in rightfield, was not the most significant part of Judge’s surprise workout. That came shortly afterward, when Judge cut through the rampant speculation -- and growing skepticism -- by repeating the guarantee he’s stood behind since landing on the IL in early June.
“I’ll be back this season,” Judge said, standing at the edge of the Yankees’ dugout. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t be. That was always the plan to come back -- sooner than later, definitely. But yeah, I never had a thought of not playing this year.”
Neither Judge nor anyone else with the Yankees will provide any ballpark timetables, but the best-case scenario would seem to suggest early to mid-September -- and that feels optimistic at this stage. Judge sounded encouraged by Tuesday’s latest round of imaging tests, which cleared him for the next step -- basically running -- but also showed that the fractured rib still had not fully healed.
Considering that Judge hasn’t played since May 31 in Sacramento, and underwent a battery of exams in the days that followed, he’s up to almost nine weeks of recovery time, which is beyond the standard six to eight for a bone to mend. When I asked Judge what Tuesday’s scan revealed as far as the rib’s status, he indicated there was continued improvement, just not at the finish line yet.
“We’re still getting there,” Judge said. “But we’re at a point now to where, hopefully, you add a couple more things to the program it won’t bother it too much and keep healing.”
Judge and manager Aaron Boone did their usual dance around questions involving potential return dates. That’s been standard operating procedure when it comes to the three-time MVP’s scarce medical updates, going back to his various past injuries. But based on Judge’s current level of activity, and the crawling pace of the rib’s recovery, the calendar is starting to work against him.
The regular season ends on Sept. 27, which is only 52 days away, and Judge seems a fair distance away from the most demanding parts of his rehab, especially picking up a bat. Plus, the idea that Judge was given the green light to begin running and maybe some light upper-body exercises without waiting for the rib to heal 100% first suggests they’re more aware of the ticking clock.
Think about it. Judge has been completely shut down since June 1, an unusually long stretch of inactivity, even for the offseason. To use spring training as a frame of reference, Judge purposely builds himself up at a very gradual pace as a precaution for staying healthy, so he takes every minute of those six weeks (and even a few weeks pre-camp) to make sure he’s up to speed by Opening Day.
Now do the math. Also consider that Judge’s baseline when he shows up at Steinbrenner Field in February is much better than the shape he’s in right now. That’s why GM Brian Cashman hedged about Judge’s return when asked after Monday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline expired. While Cashman anticipated Judge to be back, there’s just too many unknowns going forward.
“It’s always possible that things don’t go the way you want,” Cashman said. “We currently are still very optimistic that he’s going to return. But there’s challenges with all that, too. While he’s returning, whenever that time frame is, and ramping him up and getting his timing down, etc., etc. So I can’t rule out any of it. But I know that I can only follow the guidelines so far.”
That’s what Judge has been clinging to as well. He acknowledged Wednesday there’s still some discomfort in that shoulder area -- “I got a broken rib, so you’re going to feel it,” Judge said -- and was wary of the hurdles ahead, including additional scans to monitor the rib’s progress.
“I think that’s going to be the ultimate test -- hitting,” Judge said. “That’s the most violent of it all. I think more than running or lifting and stuff like that. Once we keep progressing, and everything’s feeling great, then well take another scan, see where it’s at. Hopefully add the hitting and throwing down the road.”
Speaking in such vague terms during the first week of August is worrisome, both for Judge and the Yankees’ misfiring offense. Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the Cardinals, their 3.93 runs per game since June 1 was the fifth-worst in the majors. The Yankees also were dead-last in batting average (.220), 27th in OPS (.671) and 24th in slugging percentage (.389).
With Judge on the shelf indefinitely, along with murky return dates for Cody Bellinger (hamstring) and Giancarlo Stanton (calf), the Yankees hoped to spark their sagging lineup with a series of deadline moves that involved a pair of platoon bats in Luis Garcia Jr. and Heliot Ramos along with the promotion of top prospect George Lombard Jr.
Garcia smacked a two-run, go-ahead homer Monday night before the bullpen collapsed in a 13-7 loss to the Cardinals. Lombard’s first career hit in Tuesday’s major-league debut was a solo homer responsible for half the run production in a 2-0 victory. As for Judge, he watched from the dugout rail.
“We got the hitters we wanted,” Judge said. “Our goal is to win the division and set ourselves up in the best position to win a World Series. We got some hitters in the lineup that are going to help us chase that goal down.”
The Yankees could use one more. Judge insists that’s going to happen.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
