New York Yankees: Judge in a “holding pattern,” according to team; what does that mean?

Per Aaron Boone, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is currently in a “holding pattern” after the slugger continued to feel discomfort on his right shoulder. What does that even mean?

There’s no question that, when healthy, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is a top tier MLB player. The problem is, however, that so far he’s struggled with staying healthy and on the field.

In fact, since being called up to “the show” in 2016, Judge has spent time on the injured list (IL) thrice for different injuries:

• 9/14/2016 – 15-day DL, right oblique strain (missed remainder of the season)
• 7/27/2018 – 10-day IL, right wrist fracture (returned 9/14/2018)
• 4/21/2019 – 10-day IL, left oblique strain (returned 6/21/2019)

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Now, Judge has been sidelined in Spring Training because he’s feeling discomfort in his right shoulder.

He’s been seen throwing during warmups with his team, but according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Judge “was not right” while taking indoor batting practice this past Friday.

An MRI test came back negative for the slugger on Friday, leaving him and his team puzzled as to what’s causing his discomfort. Boone added that the team is “in a holding pattern with it, just trying to figure out what exactly is going on,” on Saturday.

Essentially, Aaron Judge’s status for the start of the regular season is in limbo. Given the team’s goals for the 2020 MLB season after signing Gerrit Cole to the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, they’ll be in no hurry to rush their most important offensive player in Judge.

While this is certainly a frustrating development for the player, his team, and fans, the Yankees are right to rule him out of playing any games until they can sort this out. Especially when you consider the seemingly neverending list of bad news they’ve received since the 2019 season ended.

The New York Yankees will already be without Giancarlo Stanton to start the season, without Aaron Hicks for half the season, and without Luis Severino for the entire season, it’d be best if they didn’t lose Judge too.