A Punch to the Ribs

It was was September 18th, the last start of CC’s career, the last game of Domingo German’s season and a chance for the Yankees to clinch the division. In the fifth inning I held my breath from the stands in Yankee Stadium as Aaron Judge was slow to get up after making a diving attempt on a ball. With all the injuries that had happened that year, another Judge injury just before the playoffs started seemed likely. But after staying on one knee for a few seconds and looking like he took a few limping steps, he waived off the trainer and I exhaled. As it turns out, I shouldn’t have, he apparently broke his rib on that play and somehow, almost six months later, the Yankees have finally figured that out.

It’s really hard to understand how this happened. Judge clearly has a high pain tolerance and he underwent a lot of tests to finally diagnose this, but I can’t help feeling the Yankees medical staff blew another diagnosis. Judge hasn’t felt right since he arrived in camp weeks ago. It’s hard to understand how a team with all of these resources can’t diagnose and treat its players correctly. Injuries are part of the game, but treating them incompetently isn’t. The Yankees have to fix this.

As for the plan with Judge it is two weeks of rest. Judge says he can be ready to play with about 30 AB’s, but I can’t imagine the Yankees will rush him back. He almost certainly will miss some time, and if he doesn’t show enough healing after two weeks, surgery is a possibility. That would mean he misses a lot of time.