Aaron Judge’s injury scare gave Yankees anxiety on verge of forming Big 3
The Yankees were so close. So reach out and touch it close to their dream scenario. Gerrit Cole returning to form a Big 3 with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.
And then …
There was, at minimum, anxiety. But perhaps that is all.
The Yankees beat the Orioles 4-2, but in the immediate aftermath there was not euphoria to celebrate both an important June win and Cole being on deck for his 2024 MLB debut. There was concern. Judge had been hit in his left hand by a 94 mph Albert Suarez fastball leading off the third inning.
He played through the bottom of that frame. And then was removed and sent for imaging, and Aaron Boone summed up a big victory and potentially larger loss this way:
“Lots to be excited about in that win, but obviously concern for the captain. We will see what we got and hopefully we avoided something.”
Judge’s initial words suggest that the worst was indeed averted. He said the X-ray and CT-scan were negative. There is still swelling. But Judge did not not dismiss being on the field for Cole’s 2024 premiere. It didn’t feel like 100 percent in the clear. But like with Soto’s left forearm inflammation earlier this month, the initial dire fears might abate quickly.
At this point — like with Soto — the Yankees will take a few missed games for Judge, even against Baltimore, compared to where their minds inched at times Tuesday. That would be a repeat of 2018, when a Jakob Junis pitch fractured Judge’s right wrist and he was lost for seven weeks in the second half.
The Yankees have navigated the loss of Cole brilliantly — better than brilliantly actually. Cole felt indispensable in spring. Yet, the Yankees will have the majors’ best record without him. Their rotation ERA after six shutout innings from Nestor Cortes was a major league-best 2.86 — not far off the 2.63 Cole had by himself in winning the 2023 AL Cy Young.
The work by Luis Gil in replacement of Cole and the rest of the starters has been sensational. But it feels as if Judge would not be so seamlessly replaced. In part because he is Aaron Judge performing at the top of his form. And in part because even the player they would like most to summon if the worst had come — Jasson Dominguez — has an oblique injury and is going to miss time after being down most of this year recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Yes, as opposed to last year when Judge’s eight-week absence with a toe injury did much to sink the offense and the team, this version has Soto. But, like last season, there are still a lot of soft spots throughout the lineup. The difference making has been to have Soto and Judge forming a frightening 1-2 punch from 2-3 in the order.
And, of course, the bigger plan was to unite Soto, Judge and Cole — arguably three of the 10 best players in the world — at one time. The Yankees felt better about that happening an hour after beating the Orioles then when the game concluded.
There is no crying in baseball, of course. The Orioles are down their closer (Felix Bautista) for the season and now three starting pitchers (Kyle Bradish for at least a while and John Means and Tyler Wells for the season). Like the Yankees, they have been resilient, resourceful and resplendent.
The Yankees lost three of four at Camden Yards earlier this season and recognized, even in June, the imperative to change the narrative and widen a first-place lead.
They did that on Tuesday night at the least.
The Orioles were 1-for-11 with men on against Cortes, who walked none, struck out six and lowered his ERA to 1.57 in eight Yankee Stadium starts.
Suarez entered with a 1.61 ERA, the lowest of any pitcher with at least 40 innings. He has been one of those fill-in starters who helped the Orioles to the AL’s second-best record. But his wildness was overt as was the Yankees’ patience. Suarez allowed six hits, walked five and had the potentially seismic hit by pitch of Judge in throwing 96 pitches and recording just 11 outs against three runs.
Boone was not present for the start of the game. He had attended his son’s graduation and was driving to the stadium and was mid phone call with Brian Cashman just as Judge was hit by Suarez’s pitch — Cashman providing the play-by-play of the incident. None of the Yankees thought it was intentional. But Alex Verdugo did feel a pitcher with good control in general was up and in too much and DJ LeMahieu said: “You go up and in on our best player and then hit Gleyber [Torres by reliever Keegan Akin], nobody’s gonna be happy about it.”
Torres stayed in the game. Judge, obviously did not. So there was a trip to NewYork Presbyterian for imaging. And anxiety. The Yankees have done wonderfully without Cole.
But it is like crawling successfully through mud for half a marathon, being told you could get up and then getting knocked down again. Perhaps the Yanks are going to stand up for the rest of the race. Cole returns Wednesday and in the midst of their annual Hope Week, Judge offered some of his own by saying he was a bit battered and bruised, but not busted.
The Yankees remain both in first place and tantalizingly close to putting the Big 3 on the field together.
