Feb 18, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA;New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) works out during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees may be the favorites to win the 2020 World Series, but preseason injuries means that they will be in for a fight and this latest injury doesn’t help them.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed that Aaron Judge has a “stress fracture of the first right rib.” Judge’s timetable to return is unknown but Boone said he’s going to rest for two weeks and the team will re-evaluate.

Boone revealed that the team thinks that Judge was injured in a game last September but his rib showed “signs of healing” since. One reason why it took this long to diagnose what was going on was that throughout the various tests Judge underwent, it’s difficult to find an injury like a rib stress fracture. Surgery is on the table but it seems to be a matter of last resort because according to Boone, surgery would involve removing the rib.

Judge’s injury adds to an already long list of injuries a team would normally have for the beginning of March. James Paxton, Aaron Hicks, and Giancarlo Stanton have various injuries and will be back at different parts of the season. The injury that will have the biggest impact on the Yankees has been Luis Severino, who needed to get Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season.

Despite all these injuries, the Yankees will remain one of the favorites but a lot more teams are thinking they have a chance this year.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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