The New York Yankees 2019 MLB season was plagued by the injury bug, and it seems like the 2020 Major League Baseball season is continuing that trend. The latest injury from the Yankees spring training camp in Tampa, Florida revolves around a fractured rib of their young superstar right fielder, Aaron Judge. It is uncertain yet if this ailment will necessitate surgery, but we should know fairly soon if that will happen or not. For now, the big guy is out of the line up indefinitely.

Last Season

Judge suffered an injury last season while making a diving catch in the outfield, and he is frustrated that he is once again hurt prior to the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Last year Aaron was only able to participate in 102 regular season games, and he was hoping to enter this year at 100% health although that does not seem to be the case.

Spring Training

He has not played in any spring training games yet this year due to soreness in his right pectoral muscle and shoulder, and now it has been confirmed that he has a stress fracture in his first right rib. The New York Yankees and Judge have undergone a variety of tests lately including an MRI, bone scans, and a CT scan as the Yankees’ medical staff strives to find the true source of his pain.

Surgery?

If his midsection doesn’t feel better soon surgery to remove the bone is a possibility, but that would keep him out of action for longer than he or New York would like. Judge has expressed his thoughts on avoiding surgery at costs unless it is absolutely necessary. The Yankees believe they have the best ball club in baseball, and they want as many hands on deck as possible to start their 2020 campaign from the Bronx.

New York Yankees Injury Report (3/7/2020)

  • March 7, 2020

Chad Bettis

RP

Status: Day to day

Bettis is dealing with a back injury and it is unclear when he will be ready to pitch in games, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Ben Heller

SP

Status: Day to day

Heller is dealing with a minor back injury but should get into a Grapefruit League game within the next couple of days, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Giancarlo Stanton

DH

Status: Day to day

Stanton (calf) will resume throwing and hitting tee-and-toss Saturday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Gary Sanchez

C

Status: Day to day

Sanchez has a sore back but is expected to return to game action Monday, George A. King III of the New York Post reports.

  • March 6, 2020

Aaron Judge:

RF

Status: Day to day

Judge is dealing with a stress fracture in his first right rib, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

  • March 5, 2020

James Paxton:

SP

Status: Day to day

Paxton (back) said Thursday that he’s been able to do rotational exercises with a medicine ball, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports.

  • March 1, 2020

Aaron Hicks:

CF

Status: Day to day

Manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Hicks (elbow) could realistically be ready to make his season debut for the Yankees in June or July, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

  • February 27, 2020

Luis Severino:

SP

Status: Day to day

Severino’s Tommy John surgery went as expected Thursday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

  • June 11, 2019

Freicer Perez:

SP

Status: Day to day

Judge’s Career Regular Season Batting Statistics:

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
2016 24 NYY AL 27 95 84 10 15 2 0 4 10 0 1 9 42 .179 .263 .345 .608 61 29 2 1 0 1 0 9
2017 25 NYY AL 155 678 542 128 154 24 3 52 114 9 4 127 208 .284 .422 .627 1.049 171 340 15 5 0 4 11 *9D AS,MVP-2,RoY-1,SS
2018 26 NYY AL 112 498 413 77 115 22 0 27 67 6 3 76 152 .278 .392 .528 .919 150 218 10 4 0 5 3 9D/8 AS,MVP-12
2019 27 NYY AL 102 447 378 75 103 18 1 27 55 3 2 64 141 .272 .381 .540 .921 143 204 11 3 0 1 4 9D
4 Yrs 396 1718 1417 290 387 66 4 110 246 18 10 276 543 .273 .394 .558 .952 151 791 38 13 0 11 18
162 Game Avg. 162 703 580 119 158 27 2 45 101 7 4 113 222 .273 .394 .558 .952 151 324 16 5 0 5 7

Judge’s Career Postseason Batting Statistics:

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB WPA
2017 25 NYY AL ALWC MIN W 1 5 4 3 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 .500 .600 1.250 1.850 5 0 0 0 0 0 0.24
2017 25 NYY AL ALDS CLE W 5 24 20 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 16 .050 .208 .100 .308 2 0 0 0 0 0 -0.15
2017 25 NYY AL ALCS HOU L 7 28 24 5 6 2 0 3 7 0 1 4 11 .250 .357 .708 1.065 17 1 0 0 0 0 -0.01
2018 26 NYY AL ALWC OAK W 1 4 3 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 .667 .750 2.000 2.750 6 0 0 0 0 0 0.18
2018 26 NYY AL ALDS BOS L 4 18 16 4 6 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 .375 .444 .750 1.194 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.22
2019 27 NYY AL ALDS MIN W 3 14 9 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 .333 .538 .333 .872 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.19
2019 27 NYY AL ALCS HOU L 6 28 25 3 6 0 0 1 2 2 0 3 10 .240 .321 .360 .681 9 0 0 0 0 0 -0.04
3 Yrs (7 Series) 27 121 101 21 26 4 0 8 17 2 1 19 41 .257 .375 .535 .910 54 1 0 0 0 0 0.63
2 ALWC 2 9 7 5 4 1 0 2 4 0 0 2 1 .571 .667 1.571 2.238 11 0 0 0 0 0 0.42
3 ALDS 12 56 45 8 10 1 0 2 4 0 0 10 19 .222 .364 .378 .741 17 0 0 0 0 0 0.27
2 ALCS 13 56 49 8 12 2 0 4 9 2 1 7 21 .245 .339 .531 .870 26 1 0 0 0 0 -0.05

Judge’s Career Regular Season Fielding Statistics:

Year Age Tm Pos Lg G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rdrs Rtot/yr Rdrs/yr RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
2016 24 NYY OF AL 27 24 21 216.0 38 35 2 1 0 .974 -2 0 -9 0 1.54 1.37 .986 2.15 2.12
2016 24 NYY RF AL 27 24 21 216.0 38 35 2 1 0 .974 -2 0 -9 0 1.54 1.37 .986 2.10 2.08
2017 25 NYY OF AL 141 141 129 1238.2 275 265 5 5 2 .982 20 8 19 7 1.96 1.91 .985 2.16 2.14 AS,MVP-2,RoY-1,SS
2017 25 NYY RF AL 141 141 129 1238.2 275 265 5 5 2 .982 20 8 19 8 1.96 1.91 .982 2.04 2.02 AS,MVP-2,RoY-1,SS
2017 25 NYY DH AL 11 10 AS,MVP-2,RoY-1,SS
2018 26 NYY OF AL 91 89 86 797.2 183 171 9 3 2 .984 8 17 11 25 2.03 1.98 .987 2.20 2.18 AS,MVP-12
2018 26 NYY RF AL 90 88 85 789.2 182 170 9 3 2 .984 9 17 13 26 2.04 1.99 .986 2.07 2.05 AS,MVP-12
2018 26 NYY DH AL 19 19 AS,MVP-12
2018 26 NYY CF AL 1 1 1 8.0 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -1 0 -135 0 1.13 1.00 .990 2.59 2.50 AS,MVP-12
2019 27 NYY OF AL 92 90 80 775.1 184 177 7 0 0 1.000 18 20 28 30 2.14 2.00 .985 2.13 2.12
2019 27 NYY RF AL 92 90 80 775.1 184 177 7 0 0 1.000 18 20 28 31 2.14 2.00 .983 2.07 2.06
2019 27 NYY DH AL 10 9
4 Seasons OF 351 344 316 3027.2 680 648 23 9 4 .987 44 45 17 17 1.99 1.91 .986 2.16 2.14
4 Seasons RF 350 343 315 3019.2 679 647 23 9 4 .987 45 45 18 17 2.00 1.91 .984 2.06 2.04
3 Seasons DH 40 38
1 Season CF 1 1 1 8.0 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 -1 0 -135 0 1.13 1.00 .990 2.59 2.50
4 Seasons TOT 351 344 316 3027.2 680 648 23 9 4 .987 44 45 17 17 1.99 1.91 .986 2.16 2.14

Media Statements:

“Frustrated, especially with an injury that happened at the end of last year and still didn’t heal up,” Judge stated. “At least we have an answer, so now we can start working on a solution. Overall, I’m just mad. I want to be out there with my team, especially in spring training. We’ve got a good team here, a good club, and we’ve got a lot of goals here in 2020.”

“I want to be out there. But the first thing is you’ve got to get this healed, get this right and then you can move forward,” says Judge. “The biggest thing is, I want the pain to go away and get this healed up.”

“It shows signs of healing, so we’re going to give it the next couple and re-test to show how much healing is going on with that rib,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone proclaimed.

“I wouldn’t say that’s off the table, but you wouldn’t want to go do that right now especially if the bone is healing,” says Boone.

“The fact that the bone is healing, progressing that way, there’s really no need to go down that route,” Judge goes on to say. “If it wasn’t healing, wasn’t going the way we wanted it to go, then, yeah, that’s a possibility.’ 

“It was to a point where he needed to start getting some answers,” Boone explained. “Now we have some answers and a plan of attack in place. Hopefully, it is a situation where it is healing and it won’t be something that ends up being too long.” 

“To finally get an answer was good and bad,” Judge expressed. “I didn’t like hearing that I had a fracture in my rib, but to know what it is and we can move forward is kind of a relief.”

“I would say it’s going, seems like, pretty well,” says Boone. “But we’re still only nine, 10 days out from when it happened. He has been able to ramp up his intensity here consistently. Those are all good signs.”