Pete Caldera on Yankees Taking it Slow With Aaron Judge, "As Long as He's Healthy, He's Dangerous"
The New York Yankees are dealing with some significant injuries to their star players. Ace pitcher Gerrit Cole is going to sit out a month or two because of an elbow injury that so far has not required surgery.
Big homer run-hitting Aaron Judge is also dealing with a couple of injuries of his own. Judge has been moved along slowly in his recovery, though he has stated he plans to be ready for opening day. Pete Caldera of Bleav in the Bronx has revealed why it's good to take things slow with Judge.
"The dirty word in this situation is expectations. And unlike no other place, you know, New York fans, the New York media, if you put a time limit on it, they're going to hold you to that time limit. And Judge knows that. The Yankees know that. So they're going to do everything they can to not put any time frame on it. You know, he hasn't had that bat in, you know, three or four or five days. Now, that's not any big deal. You know, he's in great shape. We know that. So it's it's not any big deal as far as you know, him finding his rhythm or anything like that. Listen, Judge swings and misses a lot anyway. And, you know, as long as he's healthy and he could swing the bat, he's going to be dangerous."
via Pete Caldera, Bleav in the Bronx
There really is no need to rush Judge back into action. He should be given the final two weeks before opening day to truly rest so he can make the field on opening day. Pushing him into any sort of preseason action is unnecessary.
Judge is always an at-bat that should be counted as dangerous. He can rifle off a homerun at any given second, so it's best to allow him time to heal.
"So it sounds like he's in pretty good spirits. He's in a pretty good place, whatever the injury is. Yeah, he didn't put a time frame on it, but he trying to read between the lines here. He did say that you know, he feels like he should still be ready for opening day. He's saying all the right things."
via Pete Caldera, Bleav in the Bronx
The Yankees are quite good at hiding the injuries the players have been dealing with, but Judge has stated that he feels he will be ready. Time will tell if that happens, but if he happens to miss a couple of games to get the proper healing time—it wouldn't be the end of the world.