NEW YORK — Aaron Judge feels he’s had “a bit of a breakthrough” following a platelet-rich plasma injection on his right toe, according to manager Aaron Boone, who said he hopes the injured hitter can soon start making real progress.
There is still no timeline for Judge’s return to the lineup. Judge injured his toe resulting in a remarkable catch on June 3 in Los Angeles, perpetuating what was announced as a bruise and sprain. He received a PRP injection on June 6, and then had another PRP injection to treat the second ligament on June 15.
“I’m encouraged by what we’re seeing, and just by my conversations with him,” Boone said Tuesday. “He’s been slowly getting better and being able to do more things. I feel like I hope this is the beginning of him making some real progress.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Judge was dealing with a “unique injury”. Hal Steinbrenner, general managing partner, recently likened it to grass toe, which is generally more common in football than baseball.
“Ultimately, the most important thing we have to do is make sure it’s cured when we start to propagate it,” Cashman said. “We don’t want this thing to ever come back to us because it wasn’t 100 percent ready.”
The Yanks have lost eight of their 12 games since Judge hit a bullpen fence at Dodger Stadium.
During the period when the Yankees were collecting information from doctors and specialists, then passing it on to Judge, Cashman said, the GM felt he needed to warn against an optimistic schedule by saying, “This could be longer.”
“We have to be really careful with that, because he’s a really dedicated athlete,” Cashman said. “He wants to be out there fighting for his team, fighting for our fans. That’s where missteps can happen. You have to protect the player from himself. He wants to get out there as fast as practicable, but he’s got to be smart and we’ve got to be smart.
“So, time frame, I have no idea yet. I know it’s getting better and it’s getting better, so the second injection of platelet-rich plasma. Those are all encouraging signs, but we’re not in a position to speculate on a time frame yet.”
Judge accompanied the Yankees on their recent road trips, during which he was receiving treatment but not participating in baseball activities.
“He’s able to do more things on the toe from a balance standpoint, than starting to get up off of it,” Boone said. “A lot of swelling and things are out of there now, so I feel like he’s starting to turn the corner there.”
