Yankees Teammate Second-Guesses Aaron Judge Following Injury

There’s no questioning the effort from New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge after he crashed into the right-field wall to make a spectacular grab last week at Dodgers Stadium.

But the standout catch came with severe consequences, costing the Yankees their most feared hitter in their lineup with Judge heading to the injured list due to a big toe injury. And now one of Judge’s teammates is questioning whether going all-out to make the play was worth it given the results.

“Maybe he shouldn’t have caught that ball,” the anonymous Yankees player told the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

Complicating matters for the Yankees is there is no timetable set for Judge’s return. Heyman noted that a member of the Yankees told him that Judge, who is batting .291 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs on the season, might only miss two weeks, but that isn’t certain. The longer Judge stays out of the lineup, obviously the more costly it will be to New York’s offense since 60-home run hitters don’t grow on trees.

The Yankees have been substandard at the plate with Judge absent, averaging only 3.2 runs per game after he suffered the injury. In their first series of the season against the Boston Red Sox, New York has scored only a combined five runs in two games.

“We’ve got to find different ways to win. We miss our captain. But at the same time we have to deal with the blow,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa told Heyman. “We definitely miss him. But at the same time, we believe in ourselves.”

The Yankees, who are 3-3 since Judge landed on the shelf, currently sit in third place in the American League East ahead of their series finale with the Red Sox on Sunday night. But the longer Judge remains out, the more their position in the standings could slip, especially with the Toronto Blue Jays only 1 1/2 games back of New York.