BOSTON — Aaron Judge received a second PRP injection on Thursday to address a second bothersome ligament in his right big toe, according to Aaron Boone.
“From my understanding, two ligaments intersect, so [the shot is] hitting the other one because that was probably still giving him some problems in advancing,” the manager explained Friday before the Yankees’ series opener against the Red Sox.
Judge has been out since June 3 after hurting his toe on a fence-breaking catch at Dodger Stadium.
Boone added that Judge and his toe are “doing a lot better today,” but the additional shot means the reigning MVP will go at least another 48 hours without doing baseball activities. When Boone states that Judge is improving, he’s basing that on what the slugger is saying and how he’s moving around.
Boone was asked if surgery could be on the table for Judge if the soreness doesn’t subside. The skipper didn’t think so, but noted, “that’s over my head.”
“My understanding is the ligament should heal over time,” Boone continued. “Anytime you strain or tear in the ligaments, it takes time to heal that, obviously.”
Boone also said “there’s a shot for that” when asked if Judge could return before the All-Star break, but went on to state, “With that said, I don’t know.” The break begins July 10.
“He could be back in a week. He could be back in four. I don’t know,” Boone said. “We gotta get to a point where we’re starting to move the ball from a physical activity and baseball standpoint. Hopefully, the latest PRP is part of speeding that process up, but we’ll see.”
While the Yankees won’t rush Judge back, they have been missing his offensive presence after he hit .291/.404/.674 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in his first 49 games.
Entering Friday, the Bombers had failed to score more than three runs in six of their last eight games. The club went 3-5 over that stretch while playing the sub-.500 White Sox and Mets and the last-place Red Sox, who won two out of three games in the Bronx last week.
Non-roster invites Willie Calhoun, Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney have been out-hitting high-paid veterans like DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson lately, but Boone expressed faith that the Yankees will score with Judge on the shelf.
“Anytime you take a great player out, it makes it more difficult,” Boone said. “But that said, a ton of confidence in this group and what they’re capable of. It’s not like we’re throwing a makeshift team out there. We’re throwing some studs out there. We just got to get a few guys that have been going through a little bit of a struggle the last week or 10 days, get them rolling, and we should be in a good spot.”
