Aaron Judge’s silence made his Yankees injury disaster worse
BRADENTON, Fla. — Aaron Judge had nothing but good intentions when he believed he could get beyond normal soreness in his right shoulder and chest this offseason. The Yankees, however, would have preferred that Judge keep their medical department apprised of the soreness.
“Sure, you always want guys to communicate exactly what they are doing,’’ manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. “But you also understand as an athlete you try to work through things and sometimes you don’t think something is that big of a deal. You are not going to run in every opportunity, especially when you are away from the club. Trying to create that environment where hopefully our guys almost overcommunicate as far as exactly what is going on.’’
Judge believed he could fight past the problem.
“Swinging and lifting during the offseason really didn’t give it a chance [to heal],’’ Judge said Friday about the rib injury he and others believed happened last Sept. 18 when he dived for a ball against the Angels. The fracture was unearthed by a CT scan earlier this week.
“I was pissed off the way the season ended and [there were] changes I wanted to make and I went right back to it. In my head I thought it was something I could fight through and it cost me.’’
Judge said when he started his offseason workout program, he believed the soreness was normal because he was starting to move around after a period of rest.
“As the offseason progressed, it started to get worse and worse. I thought it was a chest issue. Was it a back issue? Was it my shoulder? Always a lot of confusion,’’ Judge said Friday. “Thought I would be fine by the time [spring] training starts. If I knew it was a rib, I would have done things a little different.’’
When the Nets fired head coach Kenny Atkinson on Saturday morning, Boone became the longest-tenured leader of a New York area professional sports team, even though he hasn’t managed a game in his third season yet.
“Hopefully that continues,’’ said Boone, who is signed through the upcoming season with the Yankees holding an option for the 2021 season.
Asked if Atkinson’s case was an indicator of the business of leading a professional team, Boone said, “We are hired to be fired, right?”
