Yankees superstar and 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge has been out with an injured big toe since crashing through the Dodger Stadium wall on June 3. On Saturday, he revealed to reporters the injury was worse than had previously been let on. Ever since the injury, reporters had been told by the club that Judge had a sprain, but Saturday Judge said a ligament is torn and he's still experiencing pain while walking (via Chris Kirschner).
There's no timetable on Judge's return and manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that he expects the slugger to return this year but couldn't guarantee it (via Bryan Hoch).
Judge dealt with an injury earlier in the season, but was totally locked in before this happened:
AARON JUDGE, WHAT A GRAB! pic.twitter.com/snlOXLbt4f
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 4, 2023
There's a concrete segment there at the bottom of the wall that Judge somewhat "kicked" when he ran into it. That seems to be where he suffered the injury to his big toe. The Yankees were 15-8 with Judge back off the injured list through that game. He was hitting .325/.457/.855 with five doubles, 13 homers, 26 RBI and 24 runs in those 23 games, too.
Since the Judge injury, heading into Saturday, the Yankees have gone 6-10, a stretch that included them losing five of six to the Red Sox.
We didn't need to see the Yankees win with Judge and lose without him to know the actual impact he has, but the illustration is there nonetheless. The question moving forward is how long Judge will be out. Having an injured big toe wouldn't so much be a pain issue as precision. Without full capability on one foot, his hitting timing -- not to mention running the bases and playing defense -- would totally be thrown out of whack.
However long Judge will be out, the Yankees will try to get by with some combination of Jake Bauers, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Billy McKinney and Giancarlo Stanton in the corner outfield spots (with Stanton mostly serving as DH).
