The Bronx held its breath on Wednesday when Aaron Judge was mysteriously lifted halfway through the series finale against the Twins. News broke in extra innings that the 34-year-old left the game with what was described as “right lower-leg tightness.”
After the 14-inning defeat in Minnesota, both Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge played coy with the media. Judge declined to reveal where in his leg the tightness was located, while Boone declined to say too much until they had more information. The consensus was that the Yankees wanted to get ahead of it, giving Judge a chance to respond to treatment on Thursday.
Thursday’s off-day provided no update, but Friday was a different story. A couple of hours before the series opener in Arizona, the Yankees announced that Aaron Judge would officially head to the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right calf strain. It’s a gut punch to a Yankees team that has been booming lately, owning a 20-10 record in its last 30 games and a 5-2 record in the seven games since Aaron Judge returned.
Both Judge and the Yankees felt good about the prognosis on Wednesday and Thursday, but an MRI conducted Friday morning revealed the strain. No timeline has been announced for Judge, but the outlook isn’t exactly favorable; even the least severe calf strains typically require 2-3 weeks of complete inactivity to heal. This means Judge will likely miss at least the Wild Card round, where, barring a miraculous turn of events, the Yankees will host the Red Sox. When asked if No. 99 would return in the postseason at all, Aaron Boone gave a non-committal “I don’t know.”
In what has been both a gift and a curse this year, the Yankees have had to learn to win without their resident superstar. Before this latest injury, Judge missed 84 games with a stress fracture in his first right rib. The Yankees went 45-39 in that span, good for a .536 winning percentage. It’s winning baseball, but not up to the lofty standards the Bronx Bombers have set for themselves.
The offense saw an understandably noticeable downtick in production, ranking near the bottom of the league in most major offensive categories, including batting average, runs scored, wRC+, and fWAR. They also struck out at the highest rate in the majors across that 84-game span. Even with the well-documented offensive woes, they managed to win a plethora of low-scoring, close affairs on the back of elite starting pitching and late-inning relief.
Whether they want to or not, the Yankees will have to win games in that fashion again. Cam Schlittler will need to continue pitching like the Cy Young winner he is all but bound to be. Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Gerrit Cole will need to be the veteran aces they are. Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar must stay locked down out of the bullpen. The rest of the staff will need to acclimate to a wide range of new roles and responsibilities. Simply put, the Yankees’ arms will need to do everything they can to limit damage.
Even with great pitching, the Bronx Bombers must live up to that moniker and dish out their own damage. Judge’s absence leaves a hole in the lineup that no one man can fill, but this group still has enough talent and depth to be a potent unit. Cody Bellinger, Luis Garcia Jr., Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Ben Rice need to be the big boppers. Despite being the new kids on the block, both Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. will need to rise to the occasion in the big moments.
Perhaps the most important thing the Yankees can do in Judge’s absence is use their platoon advantage effectively. Brian Cashman made it a point to give Aaron Boone options against both righties and lefties this year, and that will play a huge role moving forward. Looking ahead to the likely Wild Card showdown against the Red Sox, it becomes increasingly clear that Boston may look to exploit the fact that the Yankees are without the best right-handed hitter of the last generation. The Fenway outfit will likely throw some combination of Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle, and Ranger Suarez in the three-game set.
Tolle and Suarez are both southpaws who give lefties a hard time, so the Yankees will need their right-handed bats to make some noise to advance. Amed Rosario, Heliot Ramos, and Paul Goldschmidt will all be called upon to platoon against the aforementioned left-handers, and they’ll need to do some damage—not only in the Wild Card series, but in every game the Bronx Bombers are forced to play without their captain.
It won’t be easy for the pinstriped outfit without Aaron Judge. Every Yankee fan, player, and staff member knows that. The man who said it best was Judge’s former MVP teammate Cody Bellinger, who acknowledged that “missing Judge, it hurts. We all know he’s the best player in the game.” He says that the Yankees’ mindset remains resilient and that he is “fully confident that we have enough talent in here.”
The Yankees have nine games left this season as they try to pull off a miracle and catch first-place Tampa Bay. They’re currently four games back, but will play host to the Rays in a pivotal four-game series this week.
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