TAMPA — The Yankees are just over two weeks from Opening Day and now they can’t be sure Aaron Judge or Gerrit Cole will be there.
Their spring training has taken an ugly turn, as Cole’s status was thrown into question following an MRI exam on his right elbow on Monday, the same day Judge also underwent an MRI on his abdomen after experiencing discomfort in the area.
Though the Yankees had yet to announce the results of Cole’s imaging as of Tuesday evening, Judge said his tests came back “clean.”
Aaron Judge is dealing with an abdomen issue. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostBut he added he was only “pretty sure” he’d be ready for Opening Day, which is March 28 in Houston.
“I don’t want to speculate,’’ Judge said.
The outfielder last played on Sunday, when he took just two at-bats before being removed in what both Judge and Aaron Boone said was a planned light day.
Judge said he’d been experiencing “slight” discomfort in the area for about a week on the follow-through of his swings and opted to take time now in an effort to not miss games once the regular season gets underway.
“I’m a little banged up, so we thought it best to take a couple days,” Judge said at Steinbrenner Field. “I’ll be back out there soon. … The most important thing is Opening Day.”
Judge said he’s been feeling the discomfort in the area for about a week, primarily when he follows through on his swings.
He did go through some defensive drills on a backfield in Tampa on Tuesday, which was a positive sign, according to Harshil Matta, doctor of osteopathic medicine at NYU Langone Health.
But Matta also said injuries are “rarely” only located in the abdomen and that it’s often related to the oblique.
Judge has hit the IL twice because of oblique injuries, once in 2016 and again in 2019.
Aaron Judge isn’t 100 percent committing to being able to play on Opening Day. APJudge had been scheduled to return to the lineup Wednesday against the Red Sox, but said Tuesday he “probably” would not play, since he doesn’t expect to resume swinging until “maybe” later this week.
Boone didn’t rule out Judge playing Wednesday, but added, “I would say it’s more likely the weekend. We’ll kind of determine how to get through today and then if he feels good, we’ll revisit.”
Judge blamed the recent injury on the amount of work he did in the offseason, as he tried to fix his swing after he suffered a toe injury that cost him nearly two months in the middle of last season.
“It’s just from swinging from November all the way til now, every single day, put some wear and tear on it,” Judge said of his abs. “Especially coming back from a toe injury and my mechanics were a little messed up and [I was] working on some things. I’d rather take a couple games [off] now, when these games don’t matter, rather than miss games in April and May.”
He’s played in just six Grapefruit League games this spring, going 2-for-14 with a double, two walks and five strikeouts. Judge whiffed in both at-bats in his last appearance on Sunday.
Judge said he needs about 30 spring training at-bats to get ready for the year, an amount he feels confident he can get in a matter of days.
Aaron Judge runs off the field during the Yankees’ game against the Braves on March 10, 2024. APAs for Cole, he was tested after not bouncing back well between starts, which raised plenty of red flags.
Judge said he was encouraged that the team’s ace was still able to throw in the mid-to-high 90s in his most recent outing.
“I know he’s not bouncing back the way he usually does,’’ Judge said. “He’s a perfectionist. I’m hoping for the best news, even if it’s him being out a couple weeks or whatever it is. I’ll take that over anything worse.”
So will the rest of the Yankees, including when it comes to Judge.
“There’s no real rush,” Judge said of his comeback. “The most important day is the 28th.”
As of now, though, the Yankees don’t know if two of their most important players will be on the field.
— Additional reporting by Mark W. Sanchez in Dunedin, Fla.





