The New York Yankees once again are hit by the injury bug this spring. This time it is the most beloved player on the team who went down, Aaron Judge. Judge has yet to play in a spring training game in 2020 and has been doing minimal hitting and fielding in the camp. 

The issue Judge suffered happened about a week into spring training in mid-February. At first glance, it was just a sore shoulder and he was listed as day-to-day. He was also expected to play in the Yankees 5th Spring training game, but by the time that day rolled around, he was still feeling a slight discomfort. After the game manager Aaron Boone spoke about Judge saying he was “very optimistic and not very concerned” about the soreness. The Yankees announced that they will be taking things slow with Judge as to not rush him back and to make sure he would be healthy for opening day.

But now General Manager Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone say Judge will most likely not be ready for opening day, but they expect him to be ready by mid-April, hopefully only missing the first 10-15 games. The official reason for Judge’s set back is a right pectoral discomfort, which is his throwing arm. Judge says he hopes to be ready for opening day, but Cashman and Boone believe otherwise because he will still need spring training before playing in the regular season.

With Judge out, it seems very probable that either Clint Frazier or Mike Tauchman will be filling in his spot in right field. Both players put up solid numbers during the 2019 season filling in for Judge, Stanton, and Hicks. It is also expected that both players will make the 26 man roster since Judge, Stanton, and Hicks are all out with injuries again. 

The Yankees are still going to proceed with caution when it comes to Aaron Judge and work with him to get him on the field as soon as possible.