Aaron Judge, undoubtedly, holds the key to the New York Yankees’ success. That’s why the front office locked him up for nine years for a whopping salary of $360 million. However, the contract kicked off on a horrific note as the captain was pushed onto the sidelines due to a grave toe injury. Judge missed an extended period of game time between June 3 and July 29.
Having said that, Aaron Judge did return on July 29, but with a cost. He returned with a half-healed toe and didn’t expect it to heal till the end of the ongoing season. At a point, the captain even contemplated off-season surgery. However, Judge’s latest heroics against Houston Astros put the speculations to rest for good.
Significant Improvement Seen In Aaron Judge’s Base Running Ability Vs. Astros!
Ever since returning from an unhealed toe injury, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge has displayed terrific hitting abilities. In the past 20 games, Judge has crossed the fence nine times. In 83 games, he has hit 31 homers, which ranks 4th highest in the American League. Meanwhile, during the weekend series vs. Houston Astros, the captain slammed a gigantic 428-foot hit over the right-center field to unlock the 250th long hit in his storied career. However, apart from his extraordinary offensive prowess, it was Judge’s sprint in between bases that caught the baseball analysts’ attention. At the time of return, the slugger was visibly restricting himself on the bases due to underlying pain.
However, it seems Aaron Judge’s toe injury has improved significantly as he sprinted from first to third base off Jasson Dominguez’s hard ground ball to right field vs. Astros on Saturday. Not only that, the captain reached home safely on a sacrifice flyout. “Seems like a pretty significant improvement,” said manager Aaron Boone. The skipper added, saying Judge’s recovery is going better than what they previously anticipated. It is a possibility that he gets fully 100% by the end of the season, which will help him in averting off-season surgery. This is massive for Aaron Judge as well as the Yankees. A surgery will rule the slugger out for a couple of months, and he will take additional time to recover for the 2024 season. Overall, Judge is set on a path to quicker recovery and might get ready on time for the next season.
Aaron Judge Breaks Into Top 10 Of Yankees Franchise History
The recently concluded series against the Houston Astros brought along a lot of positives for Aaron Judge. He hit his 31st homer of the 2023 season on Saturday, which elevated his career home run tally to 251. Moreover, as per StatsCentre, Judge has entered into the top 10 list of most career home runs by a player in Yankees history. The list is topped by legend Babe Ruth with 659 long hits.
The number nine on the list is Derek Jeter, with 260 home runs. Aaron Judge is expected to surpass Jeter this season or maybe by early 2024. Having said that, Judge’s long hit helped the Yankees secure a series sweep vs. the Astros for the first time since September 2013. It’s also the team’s first series sweep since July 23.
