The Yankees have been a completely different baseball team without Aaron Judge. Yankees' skipper Aaron Boone provided an encouraging update on Judge.
The New York Yankees have not been the same team since their star outfielder, Aaron Judge ended up on the injured list. Judge barreled through the outfield wall against the Dodgers during a May trip to LA and suffered a toe injury that has kept him off the field.
New York's offense suffers tremendously without their power-hitting slugger in the lineup, and it puts more strain on the pitching staff. With Judge in 2023, the Yankees are 30-19 and slashing .240/.312/.432 with 80 home runs.
Without him, they are 9-14 while slashing .209/.267/.368 with 26 home runs. But there is at least some hope that the Yankees' lifeline could be on the path back relatively soon.
Yankees: Aaron Boone gives an encouraging word on Aaron Judge injury
Judge recently received his second PRP injection, which has resulted in Judge and Boone both feeling a bit more encouraged about the situation.
"Feels like there's a little bit of a breakthrough," Boone noted when discussing the injury.
The Yankees are still within striking distance of being one of the best teams in the MLB. They have a talented roster from the top to the bottom, but Judge will put them over the top when he returns.
Judge remains with the team for the most part, sticking around the dugout and the clubhouse. He remains on the same page as his teammates and coaching as he awaits his return.
The Yankees haven't just been worse without Judge. They have been downright terrible. They've lost 7 of their last 10 and have seen almost every single one of their top hitters enter a slump. Anthony Rizzo is slashing .081/.191/.108 over the last two weeks and his slugging teammate Giancarlo Stanton isn't doing any better. Stanton is also hitting below .100 over the last 14 days. Stanton is slashing .088/.205/.177 in those two weeks. For the year, he is only hitting .204.
It is obvious that Judge is as valuable to the Yankees as anybody in the league is to their team. The return of Judge doesn't have an exact timetable just yet, but Yankees fans will be monitoring it closely. Judge will be doing his best to return soon to help push the team toward the playoffs. The New York Yankees are still a very dangerous team to meet in October, whenever Aaron Judge is in the lineup.