The New York Yankees just can't catch a break. A few weeks ago, Juan Soto suffered an injury scare that threatened his season. Ultimately, the injury ended up not being that serious. Now, New York will be dealing with an injury to their other star outfielder. During their game against the Baltimore Orioles, Aaron Judge left the game with a hand injury after getting hit by a pitch.
Judge was immediately in pain, and he left the game shortly in the fourth inning. The Yankees released an update on X regarding this absence. According to them, Judge is headed to a nearby hospital to get some testing done. The star will also be consulting with New York's head physician.
“Aaron Judge left tonight's game in the 4th inning after being hit by a pitch in the left hand. He will undergo imaging at NewYork-Presbyterian this evening and is expected to be seen by Yankees Head Team Physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.”
That's not a good sign. Taking a pitch to the hand will almost always result in a fracture of some sort. Just a few days ago, Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts suffered a fractured hand after taking a pitch. His timetable will be six to eight weeks. We can likely expect a same timeline for Judge with this injury.
Thankfully, it does seem like Judge may not miss any time. A later report from Aaron Boone said that the tests on Judge came back negative.
“Aaron Judge said the CT and X Rays he received were negative. Said it’s possible he may not miss any time.”
The Yankees ended up winning the game against the Orioles 4-2. They were leading 3-0 before Judge's injury, and they tacked on another run in the fifth inning. A spirited Orioles comeback was cut short in the ninth.
Yankees' outlook without Judge
With Judge likely to be out for more than a month, the Yankees are likely going to put Trent Grisham in center field. Grisham saw his playing time diminish this season, though he's still good for a good game here and there. He filled in for Soto during that period when the star missed time, too.
The drop-off from Judge to Grisham will certainly be felt, regardless of how the latter plays. Before his injury, Judge was a leading candidate to win MVP honors this year. He has the highest OPS+ this season at 210 (indicated his OPS is double the league average!) with 26 home runs, 64 runs batted in, and 57 walks (all league-highs as well). After a rough start to his season, the Yankees star hitter has returned back to MVP form.
There was a time when the Yankees struggled without Aaron Judge. In the last few years, the team had heavily relied on their star to do, well, everything. Now, that has changed. Soto, despite dealing with that forearm injury, is still one of the best hitters in the MLB. Anthony Volpe is the perfect leadoff man. In the outfield, the team has gotten contributions from Alex Verdugo too. They are well-equipped to survive this Judge-less run.
Still, the Yankees are going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep them in the hunt. They lead the AL East right now with a 51-24 record, but the Orioles are behind by just two and a half games. A division title is incredibly important for the team, especially as they will likely get a first-round bye with that. Can New York keep the momentum going even without Judge.
