The mystery of when the great Aaron Judge will return is starting to rank right up there in mystery history, certainly below the whereabouts of D.B. Cooper, the identity of Jack the Ripper and why 198 players were picked before Tom Brady, but still quite high at this very moment.
Around here in fact, it’s hard to imagine much that’s more pressing.
Judge’s return date remains unknown, and apparently even beyond estimation (except for one brave soul who dared guess; more on that below). But before the Yankees’ second straight rousing and encouraging win, 5-3, over the AL West leading Texas Rangers, who are no fluke, Judge cleared up a few things.
Those things included the difference between a sprain and a tear (not much!) and his overall expectation about a return (high). That second part should come as no surprise, although the question needed to be asked after headlines were made after manager Aaron Boone stopped short on Saturday of “guaranteeing” Judge’s return this season.
“That’s obvious, I expect to be back,” Judge told The Post. “I’m going to do everything I can to put myself in that position.”
For the record, Boone agreed that Judge is expected to return. But the guess as to when has not changed. It doesn’t exist.
“I can’t make any promises,” Judge told us about a return date. “I wish I had an answer.
“I just feel bad. You guys are looking for answers. That’s your job. You’re reporting. I’ve got no answers. I’m trying to figure stuff out and get through this thing.”
The Yankees’ best player doubles as a prince of a person to worry about me, but for now I’ll assume it’s even more on the minds of the fans and his teammates, who continue to fight hard to stay in playoff position without their leader and best player. (For the record, I’m slightly embarrassed that more than three decades after graduating from journalism school I am fixated on a toe, and someone’s else’s toe, no less. But that’s where we are today.)
Although the Yankees are stocked with stars, without Judge they are a shell of themselves at bat. Almost all those stars, with the exception of Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader, who provided the winning hit Sunday before another packed house at Yankee Stadium, seemed to fall into a deep slump simultaneously. That occurred almost the very minute Judge slammed into the concrete base of otherwise lovely Dodger Stadium to send him to the injured list for who knows how long.
Word is Judge doesn’t like guesses when doctors apparently aren’t so precise, and only one Yankees person dared to provide an estimate. For what it’s worth (maybe little), that person guessed Judge could be back a week or two after the All-Star break.
That would mean the injury cost him six or seven weeks total, but since he’s still not feeling great and still not yet ready for baseball activity, as they call it, that may be filed under the heading of wishful thinking. Which seems to be going around their clubhouse lately, based on lineups that contain sub-.200 hitters batting third or fourth.
Judge, however, may be the realist in an unrealistically happy crowd. He took some time to explain why it’s difficult to pinpoint his return date, nice of him in that this has to be a frustrating, distressing time for a defending MVP and captain who will do anything to play and win. Which is how he got here in the first place.
“What’s tough is people compare it to turf toe in the NFL, which is usually six weeks, six to eight weeks. But this is different than turf toe,” Judge said. “Turf toe is more underneath the ligament. This is on the side. So you never know.”
In the meantime, we are getting a bit of medical education. The idea that he called it a tear Saturday isn’t at all a change in the original diagnosis of a sprained right great toe, no matter how many headlines it made.
“That is a tear,” Judge correctly proclaimed during our near daily discussion about his toe.
Whatever one calls it, sprain or tear, this is no small issue for the Yankees, who did well to improve to 4-2 on the homestand and 8-10 since Judge went out — shockingly acceptable considering they are near the bottom in nearly every important offensive category in that time.
Judge is obviously so vital to the Yankees that his condition overshadows in importance what’s happening on the field, even if it involves a late victory over the Rangers, an outstanding team. This one was especially satisfying, as it included big hits by struggling stars Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu and preceded a very long trip to Oakland, where — shorthanded or not — they should expect to win some more games.
“Those are our big dogs,” Harrison Bader said of Stanton and LeMahieu. “To see them settle in and have positive results is awesome for them, and awesome for us.”
Even better would be a speedy recovery by their main man.