Aaron Judge’s loyalty to the New York Yankees has never been questioned, but it might have just cost him the season. The Yankees are dealing with a long list of injuries, and to hold the clubhouse together, Judge hid one of his own. He played with a broken rib for over a month. Now, his body cannot take it anymore, and the Yankees are in big trouble.

“Big G’s hurt, Max Fried’s hurt. We had a lot of guys banged up. You’ve got to be out there. That’s what they’re paying me to do, to go out there and play.” MLB insider Bryan Hoch quoted Aaron Judge as he answered about why he continued playing with an injury.

It was first believed that Judge had hurt his toe again, as he did in 2023. But according to him, his latest rib injury might have been sustained during a game against the Astros in late April. Hedove to catch a flyball by the Astros’ Dustin Harris. While Judge showed no sign of injury on the field and went on to bat 3-for-3, including a home run, the injury kept getting worse.

He continued playing with a stress fracture in his right rib for more than a month before the pain became unbearable and forced him to the injured list. Reason? He did this because the team already had too many injuries. The Yankees fans have experienced Giancarlo Stanton, Jasson Dominguez, and Max Fried getting sidelined with injuries. They have even missed Gerrit Cole since last year. But with Aaron Judge, the Yankees are bracing for far worse.

Doctors say Judge needs four to six weeks of rest before they even check him again. This means he will be out until at least August. Concerns over his career are also rising. With how the rib is fractured, a further escalation could take away Judge from the diamond. Even manager Aaron Boone is skeptical whether Judge could even come back this season.

“Well, none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. There’s always a scenario. The expectation is that he will be, it will heal, and we’ll go from there,” SNY Yankees quoted Boone.

Back in 2023, Judge missed around 42 games due to injury. The Yankees posted a 19-23 record in his absence and plummeted in the standings. This time, Judge’s IL could go beyond 42 games and once again prove the allegations right that the Yankees fail to manage injuries properly.

The Yankees are infamous for mismanaging injuries

A proper rest and treatment could have saved Aaron Judge from missing extended time, but the Yankees’ front office failed to manage this injury well. And this is not the first time.

During the PED scandal, Alex Rodriguez publicly accused the Yankees’ medical staff and front office of actively misleading the player about the severity of his hip injury. Back then, it was claimed that the team’s doctors cleared A-Rod to play despite his injury. The team allegedly told a surgeon they did not want him to play again to avoid paying his contract.

Last year, the Yankees faced heavy backlash from fans and analysts when they misjudged Anthony Volpe’s injury. Volpe reportedly played for over two months with a partially torn labrum that clearly hindered his offensive output. The Yankees allowed him to play through the injury before ultimately giving him a cortisone shot and sitting him for a significant recovery period.

So, Aaron Judge’s injury is the latest addition to the Yankees’ infamous players’ injury history. However, chances are high that it could become the worst in the Yankees’ history.