New York Yankees captain and star outfielder, Aaron Judge, enjoys a massive fanbase. Not only the people of New York but the entire MLB community adores the slugger for his astonishing batting skills. In a very short span, Judge has risen up the ranks to become arguably a potential Hall of Fame contender.
However, unforeseen injuries continue to derail his growth. Due to his physical attributes, Aaron Judge has remained highly prone to injuries. This season alone, he has faced two setbacks. While the slugger successfully recovered from a hip injury, the recent toe injury is taking an awful amount of time to heal. Regardless, the fan’s love earned the captain a place on the All-Star team despite the injury.
Aaron Judge To Skip This Year’s All-Star Event To Focus On Rehab
The Yankees captain, Aaron Judge, injured his toe on June 4 and has been on IL ever since. To date, his field activities are limited to catching and hitting off a tee. Despite this, the fans voted him for the All-Star game. Judge earned 19% of the votes to participate in the event as an outfield starter alongside Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout and the Tampa Bay Rays’ Randy Arozarena. However, as previously anticipated, the captain will not be able to make his fifth All-Star appearance due to the existing toe injury. Having said that, reports emerged that Judge is contemplating traveling to Seattle to participate in the pre-game festivities. But the reigning AL-MVP took to social media to squash the rumors.
In a written statement, Aaron Judge first thanked the fans for voting for him as an All-Star starter. He added that he is grateful and feels honored to be a part of a group of outstanding players. However, due to his current circumstances, he has decided not to travel to Seattle for the event. The Yankees captain wants to take this break as an opportunity to prioritize his rehab to heal from the toe injury so that he can rejoin his team as earliest as possible. As a result, Judge will stay back in New York to ramp up his recovery. Judge’s decision does not come as a surprise as his loyalty lies with the Yankees. As a crucial second half approaches, the team needs its captain’s services more than ever to stay alive in the playoff race.
Judge Ramps Up Recovery Process After Stalling Surgery
Earlier, Aaron Judge said that doctors had advised him to take the surgical route to pace up the healing process of his injured toe. However, surgery from here would end his 2023 MLB season prematurely. Also, the Yankees captain does not feel that going under the knife is the need of the hour or the last resort. As a result, the slugger has decided to stall the procedure until next year’s off-season. Since then, he has ramped up his rehab process.
After playing catch for a few weeks, he started hitting off a tee a week ago. On top of that, Yankees manager Aaron Boone also confirmed that Judge has begun to run on a treadmill and is currently jogging at 80% of his capacity. He is doing more baseball stuff than before, which is a positive sign. Overall, Aaron Judge feels that he is headed in the right direction, and a return this season is just the writing on the wall.