Aaron Judge is the Derrick Rose of baseball

None of us have ever walked a mile in the shoes of New York Yankees captain and three-time MVP Aaron Judge, but let’s have a chat about the big guy anyway.

Judge, currently on the injured list, has not played in a game since May 31 as he continues to recover from a stress fracture in his ribs. He has not been cleared for baseball activities. The Yankees have not said if or when he will return this season, though Judge claims he will.

This is just the latest episode of Judge’s strange relationship with the injured list. Let it be clear now, if you’re looking for a writer to trash Aaron Judge for being injured, this piece isn’t for you. Players miss time from strains, sprains, broken bones, or even just general soreness. Judge is no exception, having missed time with various muscle strains in 2016, 2019, and 2023.

Rather, let’s have a talk about how Judge manages to always get, well, weird injuries that seem almost exclusive to him? At least that’s how it seems, given how the man gets injured and then goes radio silent while he recovers. Observe:

2018: Missed six weeks with a chip fracture in his wrist after being told he could probably swing a bat “in game action” following three weeks.

2019: Missed 60 games with a strained oblique.

2020: Missed 32 games with a calf strain.

2023: Missed ten games with a hip strain in April and May, then 42 games across June and July with a torn toe ligament suffered on the following play:

This instance in particular stands out because it highlighted something about an injured Aaron Judge: the man simply does not give recovery updates. Even the one he gave about his toe in 2023 was completely half-assed:

“I don’t think too many people in here have torn a ligament in their toe,” Judge said. “If it was a quad, we’d have a better answer. If it’s an oblique or hamstring, we have answers and a timeline for that. With how unique this injury is, and it being my back foot, which I push off of and run off of, it’s a tough spot.”

Prior to the 2024 season, Judge would add that the toe needed “constant maintenance.”

Here’s the problem, and it’s not that Aaron Judge was that cagey about, let’s be honest, a really bad toe-stubbing. Worse yet, Judge suffered that toe injury on June 3 2023.

Judge didn’t give those remarks until June 24. Three weeks later.

People say that Aaron Judge is the most dominant hitter since Barry Bonds. That may be, but his personality seems more similar to another athlete and NOT a baseball player.

I’m talking about former Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose.

Everyone knows the story by now. Rose was a former Chicago Bulls MVP and a surefire Hall of Famer or future champion before tearing his ACL in the 2012 playoffs, his fourth NBA season.

Cue the most-asked question for months on end, leading up to and during the 2012-13 NBA season: When is Derrick Rose coming back?

Spoiler alert, he didn’t. Despite resuming full contact practice in January and the Bulls clearing him in March, Rose did not appear in a single game. Why? Because he couldn’t dunk off of his left knee, the same one he injured a year before.

Yes, you read that right. Derrick Rose. A 6-foot-3 scoring point guard. Voluntarily sat out games when his team needed him just because of some arbitrary standard he set for himself. Rose returned the following season and played 10 games before a torn meniscus ended his season.

I am here to accuse Aaron Judge of the same: Keeping himself off of the field longer than necessary because of some invisible standard set by himself. Meanwhile, his team flails without him.

In fairness, let’s give Judge some grace. Two different doctors have not cleared him to play. Broken ribs can get serious and this isn’t the first time this has happened to Judge. Back in 2020, he had a rib stress fracture in a similar spot and a partially collapsed lung. Of course he’s playing it safe the second time around.

But given that, why not be more open about his recovery? Sure, he doesn’t want the media hounding him daily. He’s practicing mine and my wife’s favorite sentence when we were about to welcome our child: “When there’s something to know, you’ll know.”

Except let’s call the BS where we see it. First, Aaron Judge is the captain of the New York Yankees. Injured or not, that means he speaks for the team. He’s also traveling with everyone. It’s a stress fracture and not as serious, but should the guy really be getting on a plane with a broken rib?

Read my lips: Aaron Judge owes the Yankees, the fans, and media way more transparency. What is he hiding from his recovery that is so private that he doesn’t want any information getting out? What was the deal with the latest imaging on the rib? How can it be healed enough that he’s confident he’ll return this season, but still bad enough that he’s not cleared for baseball activities?

I have never broken a rib, nor had a stress fracture in one. As was mentioned at the start of this piece: None of us have walked a mile in Aaron Judge’s shoes. Only he truly knows what his body is telling him. If he says he can’t play, then most likely he cannot. Stress fractures in ribs don’t happen enough in baseball for there really to be a set recovery time.

Well, except for maybe one case.

In mid-August of the 2000 season, New York Mets lefty Mike Hampton left a game with—a small stress fracture on the right side of his ribs. Hampton was a smaller soft-tossing southpaw listed at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, at no point requiring the power and torque required from Judge’s 6-foot-7, 282 pound frame. Still, he probably needed a lengthy recovery, right?

Hampton missed ten games and returned as an instrumental piece in New York’s run to the Subway Series in October.

Not that the guy is faking, but truly answer this for yourselves. The Yankees lineup is desperate for power. Giancarlo Stanton’s calf is keeping him out as long as it takes him to recover this time. Cody Bellinger is out at least another three weeks with a strained hamstring. Judge was only batting .242, but still with 17 home runs and a strong 151 wRC+.

What’s actually stopping Aaron Judge from playing through it?