Aaron Judge Avoided The Worst With No UCL Damage Found In His Elbow, But That Doesn't Mean Things Are All Sunshine And Rainbows For The Yankees

Jim McIsaac. Getty Images.

Yesterday the entire Yankees fanbase and organization held their collective breath as they awaited the MRI results on Aaron Judge's right elbow. This issue began on Tuesday when the Yankees star noticeably winced on a throw back to the infield in Toronto.  

Amazingly enough, nothing was done to check on the elbow for days. Just the best player in the game grimacing after throwing a baseball, nothing to be concerned about. After Friday's game Judge and the Yankees knew something was wrong and sent him for imaging on Saturday morning. Following the loss on Saturday we found out it was "just" a flexor strain and no UCL damage. It's a major miracle all things considered. If there was UCL damage we're looking at a decision to be made about when to have the surgery, with Judge likely opting to push that til the offseason so he could still hit and help the team. Then post surgery he's not returning until after the All Star Break with no real certainty about whether he could play right field at his level ever again. Does he transition to first base sooner than we ever imagined? Is he a permanent DH? Real bad thoughts begin to race all over your head when you think about the path we'd head down if he in fact needed surgery. 

But we're not there. Instead Judge will go on the IL and not pick up a baseball for two weeks. Boone said Judge could return as soon as 10 days and DH until he begins a throwing program. All of that is fine considering what the other outcome could have been. 

What Boone also revealed is that Judge told him during the game on Friday that he could not make any legitimate throws. If there was something like a play at the plate, all Judge could do is lob the ball in. Considering he was dealing with an elbow injury and any kind of additional throw could have made it worse, it's fucking crazy he stayed out there. Could you imagine any of these throws leading to a tear in his UCL? Boone wouldn't just be fired, he'd be jailed. 

I totally get Judge wanting to stay in there because what player wants to come out of a big game like this, especially with the team sliding, but Boone has to be a manager there and take him out. It's a goddamn miracle he dodged the worst. 

Well, now things are about to be get tricky for the Yankees and their roster construction. There was already a logjam at DH with Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice, and whoever wasn't starting that day in the outfield. Now when Judge returns he's going to take up that spot until his elbow feels good enough to get back out there. Flexor strains are delicate things though, and can be precursors to UCL damage if not properly taken care of with rest. They need to be certain he's good to go when the time comes. Considering Giancarlo Stanton is now just a DH, that puts him in a tricky spot, especially when his bat has been producing since coming off the IL. 

The Yankees have plenty of issues outside of Judge at the moment. So far during this trade deadline they've added to the infield with Ryan McMahon and Amed Rosario brought in to replace Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas. While not the home run move that Eugenio Suarez would have, those players definitely make them better. Now they need to address the bullpen in a big way. You could make the case they need four relievers to fix this situation. One of them might be Cam Schlittler who is currently a starter for the team. When Luis Gil returns you might see that happen. They've had talks with the Twins about Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax, but clearly haven't come to an agreement yet. Ryan Helsley is out there as well as David Bednar. They didn't really use much prospect capital to get the infielders so they are stocked and ready to attack the market for all of the relievers. 

Advertisement

You could watch this team play on a daily basis over the last few months and come to the conclusion they aren't worth fixing and should instead sell off expiring contracts for prospects. This team as currently constructed isn't winning shit. The counter to that is the American League is fairly open and they have one of the easier schedules remaining once August hits. They're gonna go for this, especially with Judge dodging the big bullet. While once having a seven game lead in the AL East, they now trail Toronto by 6.5 games with Boston on their tails (it's embarrassing the Sox haven't caught them with how bad they've played). The Yankees margin for error has evaporated and then some. Start playing like a real team again or you won't even have a seat in October. That journey back to excellence starts today against Zack Wheeler. Oh joy