After months of uncertainty surrounding the status of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, general manager Brian Cashman said on a conference call today that the team is optimistic he’ll be ready for the rescheduled Opening Day (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler). The Yankees are also optimistic that Giancarlo Stanton will be ready to open the year in the DH slot. Lefty James Paxton is expected to be ready to go as well, and it’s possible that center fielder Aaron Hicks could be game-ready come Opening Day as well.
Judge’s entire injury saga has been bizarrely vague, but it seems an end is at last in sight. It took the club several weeks early in camp to diagnose a stress fracture in his rib, and only two weeks later did the team reveal that Judge was also found to have a collapsed lung. Near the end of March, Boone revealed that Judge’s injuries may have dated all the way back to last September. Even throughout the shutdown, updates on Judge lacked specific timelines and frequently pointed to additional imaging as the next step.
Stanton sustained a calf injury back in Spring Training, and Cashman indicated today that he’s quite specifically referencing a DH-only role with regard to the former NL MVP’s Opening Day readiness. The YES Network’s Jack Curry tweets that the club wants to evaluate Stanton in camp before making any declaration about his ability to play in the outfield.
Paxton is more than four months removed from back surgery and could be game-ready right now, according to Cashman. There’s a bit less certainty regarding Hicks, who is eight months out from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Hicks has already proclaimed himself ready to go for the season opener, though the organization is understandably taking a bit more reserved approach and will use “Summer Camp” (as the league has now termed it) to make its own evaluation.
They have zero credibility on this issue so take it for a grain of salt
We’ll be the Judge of that.
Yes inDidi…
Ahhhhhhh…. I see what you did there.
3.5 months later and he “might” be healed from a calf injury?? Seriously???
His constant injuries are indeed tiresome, even as a Yankee fan but let’s not forget he had a collapsed lung, too.
You’re confusing Judge with Stanton.
I really don’t think Stanton wants to play here. Just a gut feeling. He has that opt out after 2020, but with the guaranteed money he has left no way he will opt out. Just hope this doesn’t become a thing where each year he has a new injury that hangs around.
@Gioooo
Nope. It was announced on March 20th that Judge had suffered a collapsed lung.
As for Stanton’s desire to play in New York, I disagree (at this point). So far, he just seems injury prone, and genuinely seems like he wants to play.
Wiffle, senioreditor’s comment was in reference to Stanton, hence the calf injury. You misread and thought the comment was related to Judge. Gio attempted to clear this up, never insinuating you were wrong about the collapsed lung.
@wiffleball ….. I agree. He definitely wants to be there. They saved him from those rotten scoundrels they call the marlins. Its like being the dog at the pound that’s about to get put down and in walks your savior.
I think if healthy he can flat out crush 50+ in that stadium. There ain’t many places you would rather be hitting at. Cincy, Coors, Baltimore and maybe one or two more. But New York is one of the best places to hit.
He has a shot to win one and hit a ton of bombs if he could stay healthy. A big IF. So why would he not want to play there?
Modern era “Murderer’s Row” is ready folks, fasten your seat belts.
No one is afraid of Judge and Stanton anymore. Yankees are the best all around team in the league but if I’m talking heart of the order I’m more scared of Trout Rendon Ohtani
I’m not a major league pitcher, but I’m pretty sure that Stanton and Judge isnt fun to face despite their health issues.
Springer
Altuve
Bregman
Alvarez
Brantley
with or without the trashcan?
HAHAHAHAHA without the trash can, those guys scare absolutely nobody.
With.
with the trashcan.
Because without, they’re just garbage.
That comment was more garbage than anything.
You’re a damn lie that they don’t, but you’re also a Yankee fan, so of course you’d say that. LMFAO
Absolutely nobody? I mean two of those guys weren’t even on the 2017 Astros…
Over/under on games with Stanton and Judge in the lineup?
Zero. I think Stanton might go relatively injury free, but my gut tells me Judge never plays, and they just punt him for next season.
I’ll say 30 together over/under
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They say the greatest ability is availability.
Exactly the greatest ability is availability. If Judge isn’t ready or comes back and misses more time then TRADE HIM!!!!
Man you’re like a broken record buddy.
Surprised no one else agrees with me.
You shouldn’t be. You don’t trade a trade a guy who hit 50 home runs when he’s at the lowest point of his value.
He’s a potential 50-homer all-star, but terribly injury prone, which is the worst combination in a player you’re looking to deal. You’re not going to get anything great for him.
Is that really worth it, when you can keep him and hope at some point he gets healthy?
@ wiffleball I agree again, but I think once he stays even remotely healthy and re establishes value you should get rid of him. Guys like him usually don’t age well. The more service time he has the more you could obviously get back. But yeah….. if you deal him now you won’t get much.
Even with Judge’s injury history, Cashman would have to be pretty secure about his place in the organization to give up on Judge’s power/plate discipline combo. Guys like Judge don’t come around often.
Given his injury history, what kind of return would Cashman get for Judge?
The only teams that MIGHT give up something of value might be a team on the cusp of greatness, with a deep system, who think a change of scenery and some new coaching might get him healthy, and would be willing to give up some high ceiling, low-level prospects in the hopes of putting a potentially lethal hitter in the heart of their already-solid lineup.
And i’m not sure how likely that is.
Change of scenery and new coaching might get him healthy? Seriously? How does scenery and new coaching get him healthy? Trainer maybe? Definitely NOT the aforementioned. In order for scenery to do anything for anybody is the fact that they are burnt out,disgruntled with management as a whole and looking for a new city to welcome them and that sometimes revives them! Long story short Judge LOVES NY and LOVES the team he is playing on and HATES to miss ANY time whatsoever! He wants to be and is the leader of this team and that will show in the years coming up!
@mlbnyyankeefAn ….. I agree. Just not now because you won’t get much.
All good news.
Well…for Yankee fans. Everybody else? Not so much.
;)
How can they be unsure of Stanton’s health? Maybe he ended up tearing his calf and had to have surgery on it? Even the worst of calf strains will fully heal in 8-10 weeks, so something is afoul in NY.
Judge is never going to be able to live up to his promise. He’s just a walking injury waiting to happen. Maybe if he laid of the weights and took up more lengthening exercises, he’d have a chance to play a full season, but he’s too consumed with his power lifting and beach body. Such a shame because he could be a special player.
Uh.
@mantooth
Not buying the “walking (?) injury waiting to happen”, bro.
At all.
He’s had two oblique strains. I realize that you don’t get swole with pilates. But, he’s a bright, hard working young man. I’d bet that he’s paying attention to his core now.
Aside from those? A chipped bone in his wrist due to an HBP & a cracked rib (which he played through, bro) due to a hustle/effort play (diving catch).
To sum up:
2 of the same soft tissue injury that he can address through training.
2 fluke injuries.
I mean… this isn’t Ellsbury type stuff.
Uh?
If you look at his workout videos, he’s still obsessed with the bench pressing. That certainly doesn’t help a broken rib (especially bouncing the bar off your chest), and it really tightens up your muscles, making them more susceptible to muscle pulls and strains. He should transition to the Gronk workout; no weight lifting at all; just resistance bands, core work and intense cardio work. While I’m not a Yankees fan, I am a Judge fan and I hate to see this kid losing so many games to injuries when he could be an all time great. He just needs to be smarter with his workouts / types of conditioning to stay on the field.
He’s only had one season where he’s had over 500 plate appearances too (not official ABs). So whether it’s bad luck or bad physiology, that doesn’t bode well for a 28 year old player who should have been his healthiest over the past 3+ seasons. Age tells us it only gets worse from here.
The Yankees always seem optimistic about the timeline of an injured player’s return so as not to breed doubt from the fans because it’s infectious
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LeMathieu and Torres best all around hitters. Put them at 1 and 2 and fill in the rest.
I like them too, but I don’t know if that’s the optimal spots. Gleyber kind of had a weak on base compared to what it should be for a guy who can hit like him(same way I feel about Javier Baez) And dj isn’t exactly a speedster. Maybe move them to 2 and 3 but then who is your number 1? Such a good problem to have that much talent lol.
Yankees will never extend judge, that is plain to see! It is an awful waste of talent!