As a result of MLB’s hiatus, players have extra recovery time, helping a handful of New York’s players regain their health for this season.
Heading into the 2020 campaign, the New York Yankees were expected to be without Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks for at least the first month of the season.
Luckily for New York, all four of these players have taken advantage of the work stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone provided injury updates on each of the players listed above during an interview with MLB Network Radio.
Watch out baseball, the team from the Bronx is getting healthier.
Giancarlo Stanton ✅
James Paxton ✅
Aaron Hicks ✅
Aaron Judge ✅@Yankees | #Yankees pic.twitter.com/v9LuB6JRzV— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) May 5, 2020
Starting with Stanton, Boone confirmed that the veteran slugger’s calf strain would’ve prevented him from being ready for Opening Day. Nevertheless, the Yankees’ manager revealed that the 30-year-old should be ready to play whenever baseball resumes this summer.
As for Paxton, Boone mentioned that the left-hander’s rehab has gone “really well.” In fact, the 31-year-old has already thrown at least five bullpens and a simulated game during his recovery process.
Similar to Stanton, Boone expects Paxton to be healthy and ready to take the mound when the 2020 campaign resumes.
While there’s a very good chance that Hicks will still need to be placed on the injured list once baseball returns, Boone expressed that the speedy outfielder has already made a ton of progress during this downtime.
“He’s already doing soft-tossing from both sides of the plate and throwing out to 90-plus feet,” Boone discussed. “So, he’s trending in a really good direction.”
With Judge, Boone stated that the towering outfielder is slated for another CT scan in few weeks. The Yankees are hopeful that those results will show that the two-time All-Star’s rib is improving and is nearly healed.
“This time down has allowed that rib, that bone to hopefully continue to heal,” Boone said. “All signs are encouraging there. Hopefully, this time down allows that rib to heal properly and hopefully have him part of all this as well.”
While no one wanted this season to be delayed, the Yankees have certainly benefited from it and they’ll likely have the majority of their players back this summer. However, the key will be to keep them healthy all year long.
With New York attempting to surge back to the World Series in 2020, staying healthy will undoubtedly play a big factor in accomplishing that feat this season.
