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Over the years, the Yankees have been able to overcome just about anything thrown their way during the regular season.
Everything, basically, other than the loss of Aaron Judge.
So the fact that Judge is now sidelined with what the team is calling a bone bruise near his right rib cage, which is impacting his shoulder when he swings, is certainly alarming.
Aaron Boone said Judge, out of the lineup on Tuesday against Cleveland in The Bronx, got imaging Monday after the injury had been “nagging for a couple of weeks” and worsened over the weekend against the A’s in Sacramento.
“I noticed it on a couple swings,” Boone said.
Judge received imaging Monday and was scheduled to meet with a doctor Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury.
“Hopefully it’s day to day [or] a few days,” Boone said. “It could be longer based on how he’s feeling. Hopefully we avoided something serious.”
There was no specific play that’s been tied to the injury, but it helps explain Judge’s recent issues at the plate.
While Judge still has some of the best numbers in the game, he mostly struggled in May.
Now, his June is off to a worrisome start.
Dr. Spencer Stein, NYU Langone sports orthopedic surgeon, said that the type of injury Judge suffered can have a wide range of healing time.
“It needs rest,’’ Dr. Stein said by phone. “This injury can happen with repetitive overuse, so it could be as simple as resting for a week or two, but if it’s more like a stress fracture, that could be more like 8-10 weeks.”
That’s far from a worst-case scenario for the Yankees, who overcame Judge’s brief injured list stint last season when he suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow that impacted much of his second half, but were derailed in 2023 by the impact of a torn ligament in his right big toe when they missed the playoffs.
Boone said the injury may have been behind Judge’s slump.
In his previous 22 games, Judge was 17-for-82 with just six extra-base hits, 14 walks and 26 strikeouts and he also went through a 2-for-26 rut late last month, which featured seven straight strikeouts.
Dr. Stein said the bone bruise could affect Judge’s swing path or weaken the swing.
Judge had four hard-hit balls on Saturday against the A’s, but little to show for it in Sacramento, when Boone approached the slugger.
“I said something to him this weekend and was paying close attention to it the last couple days,” Boone said.
Without Judge, José Caballero started in right field on Tuesday.
Jasson Domínguez, sidelined with a sprained left shoulder after crashing into the fence in left field at the Stadium last month, is set to face live batting practice for the first time on Wednesday and could begin a minor league rehab assignment Friday.
Max Fried has been out for over two weeks with a bone bruise in his left elbow, but Boone said there’s no comparison between the injuries because Fried is a pitcher.
Even with Judge’s numbers being down for the season — and especially in the past few weeks — the Yankees offense has been solid, entering Tuesday fourth in the majors in runs scored. They also scored 47 runs in their five games on the trip.
“Hopefully we avoided something serious,’’ Boone said.
