The New York Yankees have been coy in recent weeks regarding the severity of Aaron Judge’s injury. Now, the reigning AL MVP winner has finally shed light on the specific nature of the issue that landed him on the injured list.
Judge hasn’t played since June 3 after suffering the toe injury during the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. New York originally hoped the All-Star outfielder would avoid a second stint on the injured list, but it was unavoidable after the pain remained for multiple days.
- Aaron Judge stats (2023): .291/.404/.675, 1.078 OPS, 19 home runs, 40 RBI in 49 games
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While Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone told reporters this week that he hoped Judge could resume light hitting by the end of the week, that might now be challenging based on the information the team captain provided.
Addressing reporters on Saturday, Judge revealed that he tore a ligament in his toe. The revelation came after weeks of the team describing the injury as a sprain.
Judge also told reporters that he still experiences pain in the toe whenever he walks. It’s an indicator that he’ll miss far more time than originally expected. Not only does it take Judge out of the MLB MVP race, it jeopardizes the Yankees’ playoff hopes.
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Since Judge was absent from the lineup on June 4, the Yankees have the worst OPS in baseball (.603) and they are the only MLB team with a batting average below 200 (.196) during that span. New York also ranks 23rd in isolated power (.140) and 27th in walk rate (6.8%) in its last 16 games.
It’s all culminated in the Yankees plummeting down the MLB standings and quickly losing their footing in the postseason hunt. Entering MLB games today, New York had a 7-11 record in June despite its pitching staff posting a 3.93 ERA.
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