If the regular season had started when it was supposed to in late March, the Yankees would have had to leave without the face of their franchise, right fielder. Aaron Judge, for a long period of time. A right rib fracture and punctured lung slowed Judge down during the first version of this year’s spring training, but the slugger now has a chance to be in the Yankees’ season opener in a month, Erik reports. Newsday’s Boland.
Judge, whose injury problems first emerged in February, has finally hit a tee again, according to Boland. While that doesn’t mean he’ll be ready for Game 1 of the Yankees season, it’s still a positive development for the club, which would have opened a normal season without three of its best open-field options in Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks. Each player was shelved with injuries during the spring, although we now know that Hicks hopes to return from his Tommy John procedure in October 2019 once the season begins.
Like Hicks, Stanton, who dealt with a calf strain during the spring, is almost certain at the moment to be part of New York’s first game, according to Boland. Injuries have been a big problem since last season for Stanton, whose second year as a Yankee consisted of just 18 games.
