The injury bug is alive and well in the Yankees camp in Tampa. And the problem, besides the injuries themselves, is the way the Yankees talk about these injuries. They are vague, non-committing and almost defiant in hopes, likely, to sell more tickets. Honestly, I don't really understand the injury thing with these major leaguers given they have been off since October and should have been following an exercise regimen. I think they are just too distracted with other things. But we can talk about that later.
To start with, Gerrit Cole was just enlightening when he told reporters this week, "I think we've determined that we just got a little too hot a little too quick," Cole said before Saturday's game against Toronto. "I just got to a certain point where we just didn't hit baseline and recovery. That's important at this time of the year." Let's dig deeper into that fascinating statement.
In case you didn't hear, the Yankees disclosed on Monday that their ace was suffering from elbow soreness. Actually, first they said, he had trouble "bouncing back between starts" but later revealed it was more serious. Elbow soreness is code for Tommy John Surgery in my mind, but the Yankees are smarter than that. They made the whole incident seem routine but not Cole.
"It's not a common experience for me," Cole said. "I haven't really dealt with anything like this before. So anytime you're going through something for the first time, there's a little bit of uncertainty, but I had a lot of faith. I felt good leaving the doctor, yeah," reported ESPN. Cole will take three to four weeks recovery and then go from there.
Aaron Judge is a different scenario. He underwent an MRI early this week to address some pain he has been experiencing in his abdomen. Recall Judge had made trips to the IL for oblique, hip and ab injuries over his eight-year career. This MRI was precautionary in the Yankees' brass words but again, who knows really.
"The doctors tell me and they're like, he's good," Cashman said. "Just give it some time and get it going again. So, as far as I'm concerned, that's in the rearview mirror even though he hasn't played yet. That's more of a timing issue rather than a concern issue. And he's a pro, he knows how to get ready and knock the rust off. I'm not worried about it," reported ESPN.
Judge has not played in a week but has been on the field taking practice and Saturday he will take batting practice with former Yankee pitcher and now coach Andy Pettitte. Am I concerned? Yes. This continues to be a recurring injury for Judge and having this show up this early, when the season has not even started is just ridiculous. I really never remember these kinds of injuries with the championship Yankee teams in the late 90s and early 2000s. I guess that was a different time and this is different baseball.
My take on all of this? I think these superstars do too much in the off season with their "other jobs" and don't take care of themselves the way they should in the off season. Recall it was player Aaron Boone himself who played basketball in the offseason and blew out his knee, rendering him out of commission for good.
I am reading the book Be the Unicorn by William Vanderbloemen. In this book, the author provides 12 habits to becoming invaluable and unique to others. The first of the twelve is Fast. And that trait calls for individuals to know the difference between distractors and priorities. So, my advice? Be Fast with your priorities players and stop focusing on things that take you away from your full-time job. You only have limited number of years to do this- so do it right!
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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