It appears Aaron Judge is all-systems-go for the New York Yankees.
In early March (which feels like an eternity ago), Judge was diagnosed with a broken right rib making a catch in a game on September 18, 2019. We won’t re-hash the hows and whys about his treatments over the winter. That is beyond the scope of this particular article.
Now entering his fourth full season in Yankee pinstripes, Judge has been working in the team’s “summer camp” with his teammates. All seemed well with his progression until he was held out of a team intrasquad game on July 11, as seen in a tweet from Yankees beat-writer Bryan Hoch.
After reading some replies to Bryan’s tweet, I could hear the sound of Yankees Twitter’s eyes rolling into the back of their collective heads. It’s no secret Judge has struggled staying healthy over the course of his brief career, however it’s not because he is soft.
That said, he has to put together a full season to avoid being labeled as injury-prone and subsequently mocked the way Jacoby Ellsbury is. Judge said he was going “keep playing this game hard, and that’s all I know”.
Freak injuries happen. When big men fall, they fall hard which can result in injury. Aaron is 6’7″ and weighs 280 pounds, so when he goes down there’s much more risk than a person a half foot and 75 pounds lighter.
The Yankees are a different (better) team with Aaron Judge in the lineup. His presence is an emotional life, while his pure skill can overpower opponents. The team is going to put up some numbers with a full and healthy lineup. I look forward to seeing mammoth blasts from Judge, like his ridiculous 495 foot blast from 2017. ALL RISE! 👨🏽⚖️
The Titanium Spine 