Aaron Judge's Toe "Will Require Constant Maintenance"

The Yankee captain may feel the effects of last season's injury for the rest of his career.

Aaron Judge's infamous toe injury last season appears to have permanent effects.

According to beat writer Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, Judge's right big toe will require "constant maintenance" for the rest of his career. Phillips mentioned that Judge said something similar last year regarding his recovery from the injury.

Aaron Judge said his toe will likely require "constant maintenance" the rest of his career, but it's been feeling good. #Yankees

— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) February 20, 2024

Judge suffered the injury on June 3, 2023 in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, crashing into Dodger Stadium's right field bullpen wall while catching a fly ball. This resulted in a torn ligament in the toe; although surgery was not needed, the injury caused him to miss 42 games before returning at the end of July. The Yankee captain ultimately missed 56 total games in the 2023 season, but still hit 37 home runs and was again named to the All-MLB Team (albeit the second team).

Despite the "constant maintenance" quote, Judge mentions that he currently feels fine; the "maintenance" may be alluding to making sure the injury won't compromise his mobility in the outfield and ensuring the prevention of another injury to the toe in the future. Nonetheless, while it seemingly hasn't affected his performance at the plate, Judge's fielding will be put to a daunting test.

With Juan Soto expected to play right field, Judge will be the Yankees' regular center fielder for 2024. He has plenty of experience roaming center, with 78 games in 2022 and 18 more last season; however, all 18 of his appearances in center for 2023 came before the toe injury, and he has not played there since. 

Although Judge is currently 100% healthy, the Yankees will need to keep an eye on him out in the field so he can stay that way.