There might be more clarity on how Aaron Judge landed himself on the injured list with a stress fracture in his first rib.
On Friday, Judge shared that he believes he suffered the injury diving for a ball in Houston during an April 26 game.
The dive happened on a ball that Jazz Chisholm Jr. ended up catching. The following inning? Judge homered.
Judge continued to play through discomfort for over a month before the pain became overwhelming last weekend in Sacramento.
The last game Judge played was the series finale against the Athletics on Sunday. Judge didn’t notify manager Aaron Boone of his discomfort until this past weekend.
The Yankees placed Judge on the 10-day IL on Friday, and he will be shut down for the next four-to-six weeks and then be reevaluated, per the team.
The Yankees said they expect Judge to be back this season, but the best-case scenario is likely a late July return, with mid-August more feasible.
“It’s definitely not what you want to hear,” Judge said of the injury on Friday. “We’ll take a little time to get healthy and get back at it.”
With Judge out for the foreseeable future, No. 6-ranked prospect Spencer Jones was called back up. Jose Caballero and Max Schuemann filled in at right field in the series against Cleveland this week.
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Despite the impact that Judge’s absence will surely bring, the team avoided the worst-case scenario. His injury does not appear season-ending, as was initially feared.
Judge was productive to start the season despite not being himself of late. He’s slashing .248/.375/.533 in his first 59 games. But since May 11, his production dipped, going 14-for-68 (.206) with just one home run, eight RBIs and 19 strikeouts.
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