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Aaron Judge breaks silence on elbow flexor strain; hints at recovery time amid UCL tear speculation
Aaron Judge and Yankees just avoided the worst. Amid speculation about the 33-year-old having torn his UCL, it was revealed that he has a flexor strain
Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees just avoided the worst. Amid speculation about the 33-year-old having torn his UCL and needing Tommy John surgery, it was revealed that he has a flexor strain in his right elbow but no acute damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. So, no long layoff for the two-time AL MVP.
“All in all, we got good news today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think all of us kind of feared the worst.”
Judge missed Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies after struggling with his shoulder all week. He first felt some discomfort and was seen clenching his hand during the sixth inning of Tuesday's game at Toronto. On Wednesday, the 33-year-old was used as a designated hitter, but Boone said that there was not much to worry about.
Aaron Judge was sent for an MRI on Saturday and missed just his second game this season, a 9-4 loss to Philadelphia.
“He’s about as tough as they come, and for him to even show any vulnerability or pain or whatever,” Boone said. “I knew we had an issue, probably. And so any time you can fear the worst with that, but that’s why you wait to react, though. ... We got the MRI and got a clear diagnosis with it.”
Aaron Judge breaks silence on flexor strain
“You never want to go in the tube. It’s never fun. You don’t know what’s going to show up,” Judge said. “That’s why I kind of pushed off a lot of that imaging and stuff like that because if I don’t what’s going on, it can’t hurt you, I guess.”
Judge leads the major leagues with a .342 batting average and 1.160 OPS. He has 37 home runs and 85 RBIs for a New York team that opened a seven-game AL East lead by late May but started Saturday a season-high 5 1/2 games back of first-place Toronto.
“I couldn’t throw past 60 feet,” Judge added. “We’re going up against a Phillies team, they can hit the ball over the park. I just didn’t want to put our pitchers in jeopardy, just not be able to come up and make a play for them.”
(With inputs from AP)
