As Aaron Judge’s Absence Continues, The Yankees Struggle Continues To Grow

Aaron Judge’s catch through the right-field wall during the Yankees’ three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles last weekend stands out among the many events that took place.

The Dodgers could have had a huge inning coming, but the defending AL MVP raced down the liner and snagged the ball before smashing through the chain link fence and into the bullpen.

There is no fracture, according to manager Aaron Boone, and there is no set date for Judge’s return to the lineup. Judge was given a platelet rich plasma injection and has an official diagnosis of ligament sprain and contusion. The AL MVP for 2022 is spending his second season on the IL at this time.

Judge, 31, was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday night due to a toe bruise and toe ligament strain.

New York Yankees Are Struggling With Aaron Judge’s Absence

No player, in my opinion, is more essential to the success of any team than Judge. Even though Judge is fit and active, the club often follows his lead: if he doesn’t hit or score runs, the offense frequently sputters as a result.


In the nine games since Aaron Judge injured his right big toe, they are 4-5.

At Citi Field on Wednesday night for the Subway Series championship game, Jake Bauers nearly single-handedly prevented Justin Verlander from pitching further than six innings. Verlander needed 52 pitches to throw three scoreless innings, and Bauer threw 19 of those 52 pitches in his first two at-bats.

After 10 innings, they ultimately fell 4-3.

Also, since Aaron Judge’s injury, the team’s problems have been clearly demonstrated. The club just suffered a rare series defeat against the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees were able to avoid being swept in the series, but the defeat to the Red Sox served as a harsh wake-up call.

The New York Yankees are currently hitting just.181 in June, which ranks them 28th out of 30 MLB clubs in that metric. Heavy hitters like Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo have also been essentially inactive; Rizzo is hitting just 0.38 over his last seven games.

In a recent interview with Jon Heyman, team owner Hal Steinbrenner talked about how the team is missing their leader.


“I don’t think it’s a mental thing. I don’t think it’s in their heads,” he said of Judge’s absence. “But it’s been a two-week sample size, and it hasn’t been promising. But as you know, he’s one of the best players in the game, and we’re going to miss him.”

On Wednesday, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Donaldson, and Stanton all made starts and went 0-for-15. Since Judge left, the tote board shouts “money for nothing.” In the nine games, Rizzo had a 1-for-29 record. 2-for-22 for Donaldson. Stanton made 3 of 26. LeMahieu made 5 of 27. Additionally, Gleyber Torres is 5-for-29 despite not starting on Wednesday.

“Judge is our guy,” Rizzo said. “He’s our leader. He is a good friend. So you always want him in the lineup. But if you try to get two hits in one at-bat, I haven’t seen it yet. You have to stay the course in this game and keep weathering the storm.”

The Yankees made Aaron Judge the highest-paid position player of all time when they signed him to a $90-million, nine-year deal. As a result, they understood that by definition, they were placing all of their eggs in one basket.

No one could argue that the club could not have anticipated the circumstance, despite the fact that Judge’s absence has and will continue to hurt them.

 

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