As the postseason gets underway in Major League Baseball, the Yankees face a whole lot of similar questions as they try to win their first World Series since 2009.
One question that is very different, scary but at the same time unique is the uncertain status of Aaron Judge as the postseason rolls along.
Aaron Judge missed 3 plus months of regular season baseball with a rib issue. He played for two weeks before injuring his calf which has put him in a very tricky position.
He wants to play, he wants to help his team, but in the short term it’s within the teams and Judge’s best interest to not have him out there.
Yes, Aaron Judge is arguably the best right handed hitter I have ever seen in my lifetime.
It’s also true that he’s barely played baseball for multiple months and is in a position where he cannot play the outfield and would be compromised with his calf.
To have Judge at 50 percent in a potential DH role does not make sense for a Yankee team that has had the likes of Luis Garcia and Paul Goldschmidt thrive in the lefty/righty platoon.
The calculus of Judge’s calf injury could be very different in a week or two, but for this particular series I would argue that common sense is prevailing.
The interesting element at play is the legacy question.
Aaron Judge knows what’s at stake for his place in Yankee history. He needs to be a part of a team that wins a ring.
I can’t imagine a world where the Yankees go through this entire October without the presence of #99 being felt in some way.
Especially when you consider that Judge was trying to push to play in the Wild Card series, do you think there’s any way he’d be held out of a potential ALCS or World Series in a few weeks?
Hurt or not? That I cannot imagine.
I do think at some point this October we will see Aaron Judge… If the Yankees can cooperate.
