Yankees labor with Judge recovering from toe injury
It has become increasingly evident that Aaron Judge’s monetary value to the Yankees at minimum is worth every penny of the $360 million the franchise is paying him and arguably exceeds that number. The nine-year deal the 31-year-old outfielder signed in December of 2022 represents his critical importance to the Yankees.
Judge has not played since spraining his right toe on June 3 in Los Angeles in making a scintillating catch versus the Dodgers, running at high speed into the fence in the right field corner of Dodger Stadium. The reigning American League MVP was having another stellar campaign, batting .291 with 19 homers, 40 RBI, 42 runs, and a 1.078 OPS in 49 games played.
The Yankees’ record when Judge went out was 35–25: a solid 10 games over .500. They were 40–33 heading into last night’s game (Wednesday) against the Seattle Mariners after breaking a four-game losing streak with a 3–1 victory over the Mariners on Tuesday. Before the win, Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided an update on his star’s status.
“I’m encouraged by what I’m seeing, just my conversations with him,” said Boone. “I feel like he feels like there’s a little bit of breakthrough with that one, so he’s slowly been doing better and able to do more things. Hopefully that was the start of him starting to make real progress.”
The Yankees’ troubles in trying to generate offense and wins without Judge prompted general manager Brian Cashman to convey an optimistic long-term view. “Judge is a big piece—you’re going to feel it when he’s not in,’’ said Cashman. “A guy like that creates the Fun Bunch, because he always seems to do something right.”
In addition to his bat, Judge has emerged as one of the game’s best defensive outfielders. But Cashman said the Yankees’ front office isn’t going to panic or make any rash decisions in hoping to compensate for the void left by Judge as they look toward players such as first baseman Anthony Rizzo and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton to step up. But Stanton was hitting just .196 with six homers and 13 RBI in 26 games heading into last night’s matchup with Seattle.
“We’re not going to be doing any trading to replace Judge,’’ he said.
The Yankees conclude their three-game series versus the Mariners tonight, then host the Texas Rangers in three games at Yankee Stadium tomorrow through Sunday. They will start a six-game road trip against the Oakland A’s beginning on Tuesday and then head to St. Louis to meet the Cardinals.The Yankees were in third place in the American League East, 9.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays (51–25) and 5.5 games behind the second-place Baltimore Orioles (45–27) when the Major League Baseball schedule began yesterday. While the Yankees still have 88 games remaining and Judge’s return is imminent, they currently don’t bear the look of a World Series contender, which is counter to their lofty expectations on entering this season.
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