New York Yankees: Aaron Judge goes down… here we go again

The New York Yankees lose Luis Severino for the year; Now, they’ll be without Aaron Judge indefinitely. It seems the injury bug has it out for them again.

News out of New York Yankees camp: Aaron Judge is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his rib. We’re 11 days removed from the declaration that pitcher Luis Severino will miss all of 2020 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Just like that, the New York Yankees are down two of their top players. Just like that, the Yanks have “deja vu” all throughout their minds.

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

It was last season in which the Bronx Bombers broke a major league record by sending 30 players to the injured list. They got 18 games out of Giancarlo Stanton, 82 out of Didi Gregorius, 59 out of Aaron Hicks, 12 out of Miguel Andujar, 102 out of Aaron Judge… the list goes on and on.

And don’t think the injury bug was confined to Yankee hitters. Severino contributed only three starts due to shoulder issues and all-star reliever Dellin Betances managed two-thirds of an inning as a result of multiple major injuries.

Despite all of that, New York won 103 games and fell two victories short of a World Series appearance. Remarkable. Those results speak to the incredible talent that gushes from the Yankees’ roster.

They may be the only team in MLB that can withstand the losses of their best hitter and second-best starting pitcher (who would likely be the best starter on nearly every other team in baseball).

They withstood losses to the nth degree in 2019; overcoming a couple at the start of 2020 should be a walk in Central Park. The Yankees are numb to this sorta thing after last year.

Injuries do happen, and there’s a chance New York survives spring training without any additional soul-crushing sideline stints. It’s simply ironic – and somewhat comical – that this type of thing is happening to them again – so early on.

Surely, it’s not comical for the victims, but every baseball fan from New York to San Fransisco knows the Yankees will dominate their upcoming schedule. Every player within Yankees’ camp knows it too.

The regular season is not so much in question, but we’re talking about a team that is championship or bust. The Yankees expect to be the last team standing, and injuries, big or small, get in the way of that colossal goal.

They fought to the ALCS in 2019. While a few unlucky breaks may have kept them from winning that series against the Astros – cue the garbage can humor – it’s obvious their chances would have been better if they had Stanton at full health, and if Betances and Andujar were eligible to play. No team is at full strength in October, but the Yanks were certainly less healthy than the squads they encountered.

Postseason health is their big thing. They won’t have Severino this postseason; however, the rest of their stars are currently in the playoff picture. Hopefully, Aaron Judge recovers fully, and hopefully, the organization doesn’t experience an injury fiasco that likens the one from a season ago.

Here we are in March and I’m writing about October. I guess that’s because October is all that matters for the New York Yankees in 2020. Here’s to a healthy rest of the spring, at least.