Aaron Judge’s recent string of bad luck with injuries continues and has Yankees fans panicking about their World Series hopes for this season. Judge was lifted for a pinch hitter during the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Twins on Wednesday.
In the locker room after the game, Judge said that he felt stiffness in his lower right leg in the first inning. He struck out in his first two at-bats and moved well in the field before the decision was made to get him out of the game.
“I tried to kind of play it off and see how long we could go, because these games are important down the stretch,” Judge told reporters after the game. “But kind of talking it over, I thought it’d be the right move to come out, so I don’t cost the team on the field or cost the team on the basepath.”
Reports say that the Judge is going to receive “extensive treatment over the next 48 hours.”
Judge added after the game that he couldn’t pinpoint a specific moment that the injury may have occurred, but he did say it was possible that the increased effort he put into his return from the rib injury that kept him out for more than three months might explain this latest ailment.
“Once you start ramping up again, things pop up, and that’s where we’ve been,” Judge said.
Aaron Judge Just Returned From Rib Injury That Caused Him To Miss 84 Games
The three-time MVP just returned to the lineup on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after missing 84 games due to a fractured right rib. He picked up where he left off, slamming a three-run homer and reintroducing his awesome power to the fans.
Thoughts of a legitimate World Series run consumed the minds of elated Yankees fans, who know that despite having one of the best pitching rotations in baseball, will need the best player in baseball to ride deep into the postseason.
The Yankees have already clinched a playoff berth, so the most important thing is to have Judge available for a deep run in October. That doesn’t make fans less skeptical about a timely return.
Fans Panicking, Thinking Worst-Case Scenario About Judge’s Latest Injury
With Judge’s diagnosis unconfirmed, it also didn’t help that Yankees announcer Joe Girardi said on the broadcast that “there has to be an issue.”
Fans on social media formed their own conclusions about what the future holds, under an X post speculating about the injury. There are also fans who think the Yankees are being misleading about Judge’s actual injury.
“You won’t see Aaron Judge for a very long time, “ tweeted the author of the book “Toxic Positivity: The Fall of the Yankees Empire.”
“Yankees training staff is trash,” said one bodybuilder/strength and conditioning coach on X. “They need to get Judge 10-15lbs lighter and stay on his conditioning instead of treating him like a Chinese vase. I could get Judge in shape better than them. And he would have been back after the all star break.
“Bro,” one X user agreed, targeting the Yankees’ strength and conditioning team. “ I need to see these mf leg conditioning coaches like WTF these weak mf.”
“As a lifelong yankee fan of 50 years! He is a little b-tch!” one fan commented.
“Uh oh is he the next Stanton?,” asked one Yankees fan who has witnessed the former NL MVP miss almost 700 games since joining the Yankees in 2018.
Is Aaron Judge The New Giancarlo Stanton?
Giancarlo Stanton originally signed a 13-year, $325 million contract with the Miami Marlins in November 2014, which the New York Yankees took on via trade in December 2017. He and Judge were supposed to form a dynamic duo and pulverize opposing pitchers together. But injuries have kept both players from being able to get a consistent rhythm going together. There’s been individual spurts, but nothing sustainable enough to bring championship glory back to the Bronx.
RELATED: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton Ready To Blast The Yankees Past Boston
Most fans are fed up and frustrated after watching the Yankees fight through most of the season without Aaron Judge. With Judge having played just 66 games this season, the public backlash wasn’t kind.
“Just like Stanton towards end of contract unfortunately,” a netizen complained on X.
“Guy is made of glass,” another user commented.
“ He’s soft as a Wagu steak,” another fan chimed in on X.
AJ Pierzynski Criticizes Yankees For Not Sending Aaron Judge To Minor Leagues Prior To Returning From Injury
The Yankees also got backlash from fans and former pros who criticized the team for not sending Judge down to the minors for a rehab assignment before rushing him back to full speed in MLB games.
“He was rushed because they wanted Judge to be in the subway series. He refused rehab games with zero baseball activity prior. Of course they’re going to lie. Again,” one disgruntled fan commented on X.
Former MLB catcher AJ Pierzynski says Judge getting injured so quickly after his return is exactly why most players prefer to do rehab assignments.
“What’s lower leg tightness? Is that a calf, an ankle or a knee?” But this is why you go and rehab, especially when you miss as long as Aaron Judge did,” said Pierzynski, who played for seven teams throughout a 19-year MLB career. “He didn’t want to do that, so thank god he’s Ok.
Yankees Optimistic About Getting Judge Treated, Back On Field Soon
The Yankees aren’t jumping to any rash judgments about Judge’s situation. Manager Aaron Boone says they are anxious to hear the final verdict, but taking it day by day.
“We’re not going to speculate one way or the other,” manager Aaron Boone said in Wednesday’s postgame media session. “We’ll just see how he responds.”
Boone is in his ninth season as manager of the Yankees and he knows that Judge’s availability plays a huge role in deciding how many more years he gets to lounge in that iconic dugout without a World Series ring.
“Obviously he’s a key figure of what we do,” Boone said. “Hopefully, we get it treated and knock it out and be a factor at some point.”
Too much hoping, too late in the season for the Yankees.
