from CBS Sports:
***
My thoughts...
(1) Disaster. If Judge is hurt, for any sustained time, this is a disaster. (UPDATE from MLBTR- The Yankees are saying the MRI came back clean.)
(2) If Judge and Cole are hurt for any sustained period, we can kiss 2024 goodbye. It's over.
(3) Aaron Judge is a superstar. He's great. He's the great Yankee of this era. He's also fragile. When I mention this, I get a lot of push back. But facts are facts. Judge has played 148 or more games in a season only three times. Judge missed significant time in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023. In 2020, he would have missed a ton more time, but the games were cancelled due to Covid. People forget that. He was hurt the whole time that baseball was shut down. There was and is no reason to think that as he ages, he'll get healthier and stronger. This is why it made and makes no sense to put this player in a position (centerfield) that requires a great deal of running as compared to the position he has played throughout most of his career (right field). The man is aging and he doesn't have the greatest track record of health. He didn't even make it through Spring Training without an injury concern.
(4) As of yesterday, the Yankees' talking point was that "he's just resting." This was all supposed to be normal. The Yankees are very rarely honest when it comes to reporting injuries. Very rarely. This has been the case for many years - many many years. For me, I'd prefer the Yankees say nothing than to make statements that turn out to be untrue. While the Yankees were saying it's nothing, Judge was going for an MRI. It's a bad look.
(5) Last year, against all reason, the Yankees rushed Judge back, even though he wasn't 100%. They're paying the price for that right now. As reported on MLBTR, Judge noted that his mechanics have been messed up (because of the toe) and that he's "working on things." At best, he's not where he should be and where he needs to be. Judge batted only .245 after coming back from the injury last year. It seems to me that the Yankees should be concerned - even with the good news.
(6) Even if Aaron Judge is fine, this is troubling and concerning. It's March and he doesn't feel great - bad enough to get an MRI. Maybe he'll be great and there is no and will be no injury concern. I, for one, don't believe it. The wear and tear of the season hasn't yet come. Even though we're hearing that the news is good, I am very sceptical.
