After weeks of speculation, it seemed as though Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge's lingering injury was finally identified on March 6 as a stress fracture in his first right rib.
On March 20, Judge told reporters that he had also suffered a pneumothorax — a partial collapse of the lung — which is not uncommon with rib fractures, but nevertheless a big shock considering it was never mentioned.
No need for Yankees fans or fantasy baseball owners to worry, though: Judge said the lung has healed.
Aaron Judge tells the media his rib fracture is "healing the way it should be," and his pneumothorax (partially collapsed lung) has fully healed. pic.twitter.com/essNayO9RL
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 20, 2020
Judge has been must-watch baseball ever since he homered in his first MLB at-bat in August 2016 — when he has been able to stay on the field, that is. Judge played 155 games in his first full MLB season in 2017, but in each of the past two years the towering right fielder has missed significant time.
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In 2018, a pitch broke Judge's right wrist. The original timetable for recovery was three weeks, but he ended up missing two months. Last April, Judge suffered an oblique strain and was again sidelined for two months. Many speculated the slugger wasn't at 100 percent when he returned from the injury, though he finished the season with a .272/.381/.540 slash line, 27 home runs and 55 RBIs in 378 at-bats (that's a 162-game projection of 43 homers and 87 RBIs).
"I'm pretty frustrated with it," Judge told reporters on March 5, per SI.com. "I want to be out there with my team battling and supporting them on the field. Hopefully that's why we're talking to a lot of doctors, trying to get some answers.”
There's no question Judge, 27, is one of the best in the game when he's healthy, but avoiding the injured list has been his biggest challenge.
Here's everything you need to know about Judge's current injury situation:
How long will Aaron Judge be out?
On March 6, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch) that the plan is to rest Judge for two weeks and then reevaluate at that point to see if surgery is necessary. The general timetable for a rib stress fracture to heal is four to six weeks, according to sportsmd.com, but if it doesn't heal properly and becomes a full fracture, then recovery could take six to 12 months.
Judge said on March 20 that his CT scan showed "slight improvement," and that he will have another test in a couple weeks. With the MLB season delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yankees aren't in any rush to push him into surgery, so they're hoping to let it heal.
Aaron Judge injury timeline
Boone said he believed the injury dated to a dive Judge made in the outfield in September 2019. That was six months ago.
Aaron Judge right rib stress fracture was caused on this play in Septemberof 2019 that we are now dealing with in March 2020. pic.twitter.com/lpshHeoGSz
— ⭑𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐞 the Yankee⭑ (@FrankiesTooLoud) March 6, 2020
Judge's injury became public Feb. 19 when he missed batting practice at spring training because of right shoulder soreness. "I just felt a little soreness up in my shoulder, nothing alarming, nothing where I was like, 'Hey, we need to really check this out,'" Judge said at the time. He was shut down from hitting for one week.
On Feb. 29, Boone told YES Network that Judge was undergoing several tests but none were conclusive, and that more tests were to be done March 2.
On March 6, Boone addressed the media and updated them with the diagnosis: a stress fracture in Judge's first right rib.
Aaron Boone details the rib fracture that will keep Aaron Judge out of action: pic.twitter.com/Tv0dOxBDtj
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 6, 2020
Also on March 6, Judge told reporters (per Newsday's Erik Boland) that he first felt pain in November but thought he would be OK for spring training.
Judge had a normal offseason of workouts but felt the pain pretty much from Nov on: "I thought it was something I can warm up & work through & be fine by the time spring training starts. If I would have known it was a rib, maybe I would have done things a little bit differently"
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) March 6, 2020
On March 20, Judge told reporters that the CT scan revealed that the fractured rib was improving and that his partial lung collapse, which was previously undsiclosed, had healed. He will be tested again in a couple of weeks.
Aaron Judge injury updates
— March 20: Judge said that a CT scan showed his rib is healing and that his previously undisclosed partial lung collapse has healed. He will be tested again in a couple of weeks. With the season delayed due to COVID-19, the Yankees are hoping he will have plenty of time to heal and won't need surgery.
— March 6: Judge is diagnosed with a stress fracture in his first right rib and will be sidelined for two weeks before being reevaluated. He also suffered a parially collapsed lung (undisclosed). Surgery is not off the table.