Where have we heard this story before: “High-paid New York Yankees superstar out with an injury; time table for his return is currently unknown.”
Looks like history loves to repeat itself in the Bronx. Unfortunately, things seem to be only getting worse.
With outfielder and slugger Giancarlo Stanton already on the shelf due to a nagging calf strain, that was graded out to be a Grade 1, fellow outfielder and slugger Aaron Judge is now joining him on the injury list with a fractured rib.
A stress fracture in his first rib on his right side, which is being dated back to a diving attempt made by Judge against the Angels all the way back in Sept. 2019, looks to have finally been properly diagnosed. Since the suspected injury, multiple scans and x-rays have been taken, but a CT scan was only taken this week, which fully exposed the real cause of what was going on.
Judge has right around a two-month timeframe, or at least that is what is being medically suggested, to rest, recuperate, and recover from the injury, and he has been told that he currently is in the recovery’s ‘middle-ground,’ which helps paint a bit of a clearer picture of how long it may take for him to get back.
While not officially being ruled out by manager Aaron Boone for Opening Day, the fact that he had to be shut down from all throwing and hitting activities in Spring Training does not bode well for his early-season status. Moreover, adding Judge to an already-crowded room of injured superstars and important players could sound the alarm early for the Yankees.
They reportedly reached out to their city counterparts, the New York Mets, to check in on the availability of starting pitcher Steven Matz, who could become a highly talked-about player throughout the season, even if the Mets are in contention for the postseason. The fact that the Yankees already reached out about adding to their team, and much less to their Subway Series opponent, is quite a step in an interesting direction for the franchise.
A combination of Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Mike Tauchman, and maybe even Miguel Andujar will figure into the starting outfield decision for Boone on a daily basis while both Stanton and Judge bode their time on the pine. Any sort of big addition that could be added to the team, regardless of if that is Matz or not, could potentially involve Frazier or even Andujar in the deal, which would hurt the Yankees even more in their outfield ranks.
The Yankees have obviously been known to make ludicrous personnel moves in the past, and while a huge acquisition is not necessarily in the cards at this time, a sense of desperation always seems to find itself in the heads of the Yankees’ front office, so it is totally possible that before Spring Training is over, there could be someone (Wil Myers, Kyle Schwarber, etc.) that was traded for, or they could even decide to use free agency to add one final player to their team, like Yasiel Puig.
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