BOSTON — Aaron Judge spent the Yankees’ day off getting another platelet-rich plasma injection in his sprained right big toe.
The team captain was still experiencing some lingering soreness in the toe more than a week after the first PRP injection, so he received another one on Thursday, aimed at a different ligament, which the Yankees are hoping can help speed up his recovery process.
“There’s two ligaments, so they hit the other ligament, which was still giving him some of the soreness,” Boone said Friday before the Yankees’ 15-5 blowout loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “So he had that [Thursday] and is doing a lot better today. So nothing in the way of baseball stuff the next 48 hours, but he’s doing better.”
Judge has been out since June 4 and still has no definite timetable for his return because he has not been able to even begin any baseball activities yet. He received the first PRP injection on June 6 and the Yankees have said there would not be any clarity on his timeline until the swelling dissipated, though it’s clear it is going to be some time.
Asked if surgery could be on the table if the soreness in Judge’s toe does not subside, Boone said, “I don’t know. I don’t think so. That’s over my head.”
Aaron Judge received another PRP injection yesterday to pinpoint a second ligament in his toe that was still the source of soreness. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST“My understanding is these ligaments should heal over time,” Boone added. “Any time you sprain or tear the ligaments, it takes time to heal that obviously. The PRPs hopefully speed that process up. Hopefully he’s continuing to move in the right direction. I feel like he was, but that other part of the joint or on the toe that was still giving him some problems after the first PRP — so to get in and hit the other part of it hopefully is something that speeds this up a little bit.”
At the plate, Judge’s right big toe is vital to generating force and power for his 6-foot-7, 282-pound frame, so the Yankees are proceeding cautiously with his recovery. Asked whether Judge had a chance to be back before the All-Star break, which begins on July 10, Boone was noncommittal.
“I think there’s a shot for that, yeah,” he said. “That said, I don’t know. He could be back in a week, he could be back in four — I don’t know. We gotta get to a point where we’re starting to move the ball from a physical activity and baseball standpoint. Hopefully this latest PRP is part of speeding that process up, but we’ll see.”
Since Judge’s right foot slammed into the concrete ledge at the bottom of the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium on June 3, Boone has often said the outfielder was feeling better — as he did again on Friday. Boone was asked how that progress shows itself.
“It starts in simple things like his gait and simple life things,” Boone said. “As you graduate through his rehab, where he’s doing range of motion and strengthening things, eventually being able to get in a pool or do different balancing exercises that graduate you to the next step. Hopefully we start to get there in the next couple days.”
Aaron Judge crashes through the outfield fence as he makes a catch for an out of J.D. Martinez in Los Angeles. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsThe Yankees sorely need the reigning AL MVP to start making some progress. They entered Friday 4-5 since Judge last played a game, and their offense has largely sputtered without him as some of their biggest bats have gone cold at the wrong time.
Given that Judge is still likely weeks away from returning, though, the Yankees are going to have to figure out how to survive without him.
“We gotta go,” Boone said. “We’re very capable of going out there and winning baseball games right now and that’s what we gotta do. Anytime you take a great player out, it makes it a little more difficult, but that said, 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 gotta get a few guys that have been going through a little bit of a struggle the last week or 10 days, get them rolling yet and we should be in a good spot.”







