Watch: MLB slugger hit by pitch, fractures wrist during 1st inning
Aaron Judge has masterfully dealt with everything New York has thrown at him during his two years in the Big Leagues.
But the Yankees slugger must now confront something that will take him off the field as he suffered the first major injury of his pro career.
Judge was hit by a 93 mph fastball in Thursday’s game and suffered a chip fracture to his right wrist.
https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1022642470822313989
The Yankees say that Judge will not need surgery, but will be out for at least three weeks. He won’t be able to swing a bat during that time and will then be re-evaluated with a minors rehab stint likely to follow.
Judge was hit by the pitch in the first inning but somehow managed to stay in the game for a while with a fractured wrist. He even recorded a base hit later in the game with an infield single in the third inning before being subbed out in the fourth inning.
But manager Aaron Boone noticed that Judge’s swing didn’t look normal in his second at-bat so he decided to remove him from the game for additional testing which revealed the fracture.
AARON JUDGE UPDATE: He has had an X-ray, MRI, and CT scan, and the Yankees are awaiting the results, per Aaron Boone. pic.twitter.com/iLjkkKXbY9
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 27, 2018
“In watching him swing underneath we didn’t feel like the strength was there that he needed and at the time just didn’t want to take any more chances with it,” Boone said. “As you guys know, Judgey is as tough as they are, but we just wanted him to go get it taken care of and get ice, at least, and get to the bottom of what was going on.”
Judge is hitting .285 this season with 26 home runs. He leads the Yankees in home runs, extra-base hits, on-base percentage and OPS.
The runner-up to the 2017 AL MVP, Judge was on pace for over 40 home runs this season after leading the league with 52 home runs last year. He was also about to pass Hall of Famer Joe Gordon in the Yankees’ record books.
Judge's 82 career home runs are the 3rd-most among Yankee players in their first 3 seasons, trailing only Joe Gordon (83) and Joe DiMaggio (107). https://t.co/jIdnhYOP00
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 27, 2018
If there’s some source of hope for Yankees fans, it’s that another big-time slugger once dealt with a similar injury, but came back much sooner than expected.
In 2011 Albert Pujols suffered a wrist fracture that was supposed to keep him out four-to-six weeks. But he ended up missing just 16 days before being activated from the disabled list.
The Yankees are hoping that these exceptional healing powers lie within Judge as well, as they don’t want to fall any further behind the Red Sox in the AL East.
In order to help close that gap with Boston, the Yankees acquired pitcher J.A. Happ on Thursday, in part, due to his success against the Red Sox. Happ is 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 18 career starts vs. Boston.
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