How are the Yankees handling injuries to Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge?

One day after learning that star pitcher Gerrit Cole was going to have an MRI on his elbow, the New York Yankees also got some unnerving injury news on Aaron Judge and his ailing abs.

Things are certainly getting tenuous right now for the New York Yankees.

On Monday, the team learned that ace pitcher Gerrit Cole was going to have an MRI on his ailing elbow. The anchor of the staff and one of the top pitchers in baseball, Cole won the American League Cy Young Award last season.

Now, in addition to Cole, superstar Aaron Judge is also dealing with an ab issue.

Per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:

Aaron Judge says he underwent an MRI on his abs yesterday. He said that he will not swing a bat again until later in the week. Said “there’s no real need to push it,” and his goal is to play Opening Day.

At this point, you have to take Judge at his word and hope that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, but there’s obviously a concern when both your top pitcher and top offensive player are dealing with aches this close to the season.

The 31-year-old Judge hit 37 homers last year despite missing nearly two months with a toe injury. A lifetime .282 hitter, Judge won the MVP in 2022 when he hit 62 homers and drove in 131.

The good thing for the Yankees is that they have built themselves a bit of a cushion this season. Should Judge need to miss time for this injury or any other, they have acquired superstar Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo this offseason.