Right as the playoffs are right around the corner, the New York Yankees were hit with devastating news as the team will put Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 19 due to a right calf strain.
As a result, the Yankees will head into the crucial four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, which begins on Sept. 22, without their captain. The Yankees picked up a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 18 to open the series despite the news about Judge.
While New York has navigated most of the season without Judge, SNY’s John Jastremski believes the Yankees need to be hitting panic levels, given that the team hasn’t given a timeline for his return and they can’t win a World Series without him.
“I’m putting [the panic level] at a 9,” Jastremski said during a Sept. 18 appearance on SNY. “It’s not quite a 10, but it’s a 9 because, guys, we waited three-plus months for Aaron Judge to get back. He comes back for, what, a couple of weeks? Now he’s finding himself in the final week before the regular season comes to a close on the injured list with a calf, which is a tricky injury to recover from.
“So it’s not like Aaron Judge is going to be Superman overnight. You were going to give Aaron Judge these last couple of weeks to get the mind, the body, the spirit right, and the timing that you need to go and hit October pitching.”
Aaron Judge Will be Jumping on a Faster Moving Train
Judge was already jumping on a moving train when he initially returned, as the Yankees are trying to catch up to the Rays to win the AL East. Now, whenever he does return during the playoffs, the train will be going a lot faster, as the slugger will need to hit the ground running or else New York could be heading home.
“Whenever Aaron Judge comes back, whether it’s Game 1 of a Wild Card Series, whether it’s the Division Series, whenever it might be, he’s coming in cold, for goodness’ sake,” Jastremski added. “The Yankees need Aaron Judge. He’s not going to be there. He’s not going to be right and he’s clearly going to be compromised. Sound the alarm.”
Yankees Don’t Need Aaron Judge at Full Strength to Win AL
Meanwhile, in that same segment, Ty D. Butler isn’t ready to hit any panic button, given that he believes the Yankees have enough to get out of the American League, as Judge will have to find his footing in the postseason.
“They don’t need him to get out of the American League,” Butler said. “Of course, you need him to win a World Series. That’s a long way from now. But what we’re not going to do is spend four months of the baseball season talking about how weak this American League is.
“The Yankees have the best starting pitching in the American League and then act like this is some excuse as to why they don’t win it. When you lose the best player in baseball, you take him out of your lineup, it’s significant. But make no excuse, make no qualms about it. The New York Yankees better get to the World Series.”
Yankees Handed Troubling Verdict After Latest Aaron Judge Injury