Day 4 of the search for an Aaron Judge injury diagnosis involved more waiting and question marks, but one potentially concerning revelation.
The specialist that the Yankees were waiting on as of late Thursday afternoon to review Judge’s second round of tests was Dr. Gregory Pearl, who focuses on “complex vascular procedures and thoracic outlet syndrome management in high-performance athletes,” according to his practice’s website.
It is possible that this second opinion was just to rule out a worst-case scenario like thoracic outlet syndrome — which is found more often in pitchers but typically requires surgery — though the Yankees remained in a holding pattern with the three-time American League MVP until they knew exactly what they were dealing with.
“I promise you, when we know, we’re going to give it to you,” manager Aaron Boone said Thursday after a 2-1 win over the Guardians at Yankee Stadium. “I wanted to walk in here and give you something so bad. I want [a diagnosis] too.”
“I checked in the middle of the game, I ran in and asked and we’re waiting on the specialist to weigh in. That’s where we’re at. … It’s a lot of smart people in a specialized area, and guys several states away. Just got to be patient.”
The injury concern has loomed over the Yankees all week.
Judge, who was experiencing shoulder soreness that was affecting his swing, got initial testing on Monday that the team said showed a bone bruise near his right rib cage.
He saw the Yankees’ team doctor on Tuesday and had his imaging reviewed by Pearl, a specialist based in Texas, on Wednesday, which led to more testing Wednesday night (another MRI) and Thursday morning (CT scan and X-ray).
Given all of that, the real question seems to be how much time Judge will miss rather than whether he goes on the injured list, though as of Thursday, the Yankees insisted they did not yet know the answer to either.
“I just think it’s a complicated spot and there’s some edema [swelling] that complicates how they look at it,” Boone said. “I’m obviously not a doctor, I don’t know how it all works, but there’s a lot of people involved trying to make sure we get the right diagnosis.”
Former Met Jeff McNeil is the most recent example of a position player who had thoracic outlet syndrome. He underwent surgery in October but was ready in time for spring training with the A’s.
Other cases include former Rays catcher Mike Zunino, who underwent surgery in July of 2022 and missed the rest of the season, and former Angels first baseman Jared Walsh, who had surgery in August of 2022 and also missed the rest of the year.
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Losing one of the best players in baseball for any period of time would hurt the Yankees, especially given how they have played while Judge has been injured in other seasons, but whether that is a short-term problem or something more severe remains to be seen.
“It kind of sucks not having a three-time MVP in your lineup,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “But at the same time, we all know we can’t use it as an excuse. We’re all baseball players and we got to go out there and win a game.”
