By Derek McAdam
March 13, 2024
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Aaron Boone’s press conference on Monday was arguably one of the worst few minutes that New York Yankee fans have had to endure in a very long time. Boone’s first message to reporters was that Gerrit Cole was getting an MRI on his right elbow after experiencing recovery issues following outings. And just a few minutes after that, Boone announced that Aaron Judge would also have a couple of days off after saying that Yankee captain is “mid-spring beat up.”
Of course, both of these injuries are very alarming to Yankee fans, especially considering that these are two of the best players on the team. But, there is already some good news regarding one of the injuries.
First, Cole’s injury is definitely an odd one. According to Boone, which should be taken with a grain of salt considering his history of downplaying injury reports, Cole has not been experiencing pain, but just discomfort. And given that Cole is a true workhorse who has not had a history of injuries since he came into the league in 2013, it’s absolutely a cause for concern, even if they are just taking precautionary measures.
The Yankees likely already have the initial results back from the MRI. However, they are also seeking a couple of additional opinions on Cole’s elbow, so the final results likely won’t be released until sometime today or tomorrow. Even in the best case scenario, Cole is going to miss some time, so the Yankees may want to start preparing for that.
However, the Yankees were able to get some good news Tuesday regarding Judge. Speaking to reporters, Judge said that he underwent an MRI on Monday for his abdomen, and the results came back clean. Judge attributes the pain to swinging a bat every day since November and said he was simply “banged up and needed a couple of days.” Although Judge did not say he would definitely be ready for Opening Day, he did say it was his “goal” to play in two weeks.
Here are a few thoughts that I have for each of these injuries. First, the Yankees should take the stance that Cole will not pitch in 2024, meaning that they go out and acquire another pitcher. The top starting pitcher that they have the best chance of acquiring, according to the initial reports, is Dylan Cease. I can’t see why Jordan Montgomery would want to come back to the Yankees after how Brian Cashman pushed him out, the Yankees are not going to take a chance with Trevor Bauer and Blake Snell apparently wants to play for the Los Angeles Angels, although this could be a negotiating tactic to raise his price.
Whether or not Cashman actually decides to go acquire another starter is a different story though. Besides Cole, this is a rotation that had a lot of question marks coming into the season. It’s going to be an interesting couple of days coming up regarding Cole.
While Cole’s injury is definitely more concerning, Judge’s injury really annoys me. Yes, getting injured this early before the regular season starts is not good, but it’s how both Boone and Judge presented it. When Boone said Monday that Judge was “mid-spring beat up,” I absolutely lost my mind. Even if Judge was active every single day since the start of Spring Training, it wouldn’t have even eclipsed a full month. And he’s already beat up? I can’t wait to see how things go in May or June when he’s a couple months into the season and still has several months left to go.
While Boone’s comments annoyed me, Judge virtually repeating what Boone said Monday annoyed me even more, particularly because Judge has said similar comments in the past. Just a couple of seasons ago, Judge made remarks saying that the team was either beat up or had some wear and tear (obviously, these are not direct quotes.) However, the issue I had is that Judge said this in late April or early May. That’s the equivalent of an NFL team being “beat up” after two or three regular season games. It just doesn’t make sense.
But here’s another issue that I have with Judge’s injury. I don’t think this will be something that just goes away with a few days off. This could definitely be something that flares up again and causes him issues at some point during the regular season, and would likely sideline him even longer because it would be recurring. Yes, the MRI came back clean and showed no issues, but Judge is also already “beat up” in Spring Training. What will he be like come July or August?
Yankee fans have definitely been given a scare this week, and the news may continue to get even worse come today or tomorrow. But, the team has already received good news on Judge. Let’s hope they can receive a second batch of good news for Cole.
