BREAKING: Yankees’ Manager Aaron Boone shares hopeful Ace outfielder injury update

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t give any guarantees on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday, but it seems like he is optimistic that All-Star hitter Aaron Judge will be back in action for Wednesday’s spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I do feel like he is playing tomorrow,” Boone said about Judge, as shared by Alex Smith of SNY. “That’s my plan. I’ve sent out the lineup with him in it. So if it adjusts it will just be ‘Well, I botched it again.’ It’s not something I’m overly concerned with. I think it’s as simple as us being really cautious with the big guy and making sure this doesn’t turn into something.”

According to Jorge Castillo of ESPN, Aaron Judge had a hitless game with two strikeouts on Sunday, March 10. Following this, the 2022 American League Most Valuable Player underwent an MRI for an abdominal injury. Despite not participating in batting practice on Monday as anticipated, Judge has not played since. However, Boone stated on Tuesday that there is no abdominal tear for the 31-year-old.

“He really just experienced some soreness in that core area, but that’s why I think they were super cautious with going and making sure they got some images of it,” Boone said about Judge’s latest setback. “It didn’t show anything, so we’ve just been treating it and making sure he’s ramped up and good to go. … We plan on hopefully having him in there tomorrow for a couple [at-bats].”

The New York Yankees are aware that Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, will be sidelined for about one to two months due to a problem with his pitching elbow. The team was unable to secure a deal with star pitcher Blake Snell before he reportedly signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Regarding Aaron Judge, he sat out almost two months last season because of a torn ligament in his right big toe sustained on June 3. The Yankees did not make it to the playoffs and ended the season with a record of 82-80.

“I think understandably so and rightfully so, we’ve just been extremely cautious with this and don’t want it to turn into something,” Boone added about Judge’s core on Tuesday.