PHOENIX — The Yankees continued to treat Aaron Judge’s calf strain like classified CIA intel on Saturday, as neither the back-to-back MVP nor Aaron Boone shared a grade for the injury.
Actually, both claimed that they don’t even know the answer to that question before the Bombers lost to the Diamondbacks, 5-3, in walk-off fashion.
“I gotta talk to the trainers and figure that out,” Judge said when asked for the grade after officially going on the 10-day injured list. “They got all the reports on that.”
Wait, the Yankees’ training staff hasn’t told Judge the grade of his strain?
“They haven’t told me yet,” said the captain, who is only seven games removed from a 99-day absence for a fractured rib that he approvingly skipped a rehab assignment for.
Okay, but surely the trainers told Boone, right?
Wrong, said the manager, as Boone stated that he hasn’t bothered to ask for the grade.
“It doesn’t matter what grade it is,” Boone said. “We’re at nine games left [in the season].
“If and when he’s able to be back, he will.”
It doesn’t matter? The Boston Sports Medicine & Research Institute begs to differ, stating a first-degree, or mild, calf strain comes with a 1-3-week timeline. A second-degree, or moderate, strain requires 3-6 weeks of rest and recovery before returning to full activity. A third-degree, or severe, strain “can take many weeks or months to fully heal.”
The severity of Judge’s injury is important because the second-place Yankees’ postseason will begin with the Wild Card round on Sept. 29 if the current standings hold. Judge is obviously instrumental to their chances of fulfilling their championship goals, but it is unclear if he’ll be back in time for the Wild Card round or any postseason action.
“I’d like to be back by the postseason. That’s definitely the plan,” said Judge, noting that the earliest he can return is the last game of the regular season. “So we’ll see. I got really no answers for you on any timeline or anything like that.”
Judge, who is continuing to throw, work out and get treatment, added that he’s “gonna do everything we can to get back as soon as we can.” Boone, meanwhile, said that he wouldn’t speculate on Judge’s timeline, but he’s “hoping for the best.”
“We’re gonna get him back or we’re not,” the skipper said. “That’s what we’re gonna work to do, and we’ll see.”
It is no surprise that the Yankees have not revealed many details since Judge hurt his calf in the first frame of Wednesday’s loss to the Twins, a game he did not exit until the sixth inning.
Judge has been notoriously withholding when talking about his various injuries over the years, and he prefers that the Yankees follow suit. They tend to oblige; Boone used the phrase “I don’t know” eight times while discussing Judge’s calf strain before Friday’s game.
The Yankees typically provide a grade within a day or two when a player suffers a strain.
One detail that Judge did share is that he strained the soleus muscle in his calf, as opposed to the gastrocnemius muscle. Judge’s understanding is that the soleus muscle is more “crucial” to running and hitting.
He also said that he “usually” deals with “calf stuff all year long,” but it doesn’t become public, and he doesn’t miss games.
It had been his hope that history would repeat itself, but a return to the injured list couldn’t be avoided this time around.
“I’m definitely frustrated,” said Judge, who has only played in 66 games this season. “I’ve dealt with strains before and kind of played through them, but this was kind of in a different spot where it made it a little bit more difficult.
“The focus is still the same: to get ready to go for October.”
