A verdict has finally arrived on Aaron Judge’s injury.
The Yankees captain has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side, the team said Thursday night.
He will be relegated to rest and limited activity and then be reimaged in about four to six weeks to determine how much improvement he has made and what his next steps might be.
“Judge is expected to return at some point this season,” the team said in its statement.
While losing the three-time MVP for more than a month is a serious blow, it may not be the worst-case scenario after the Yankees had been consulting with a specialist whose focus was on vascular procedures, including thoracic outlet syndrome.
Judge, who has not played since Sunday after experiencing nagging soreness in his shoulder, underwent tests on Monday and then an additional MRI exam on Wednesday night at CT scan and X-ray Thursday morning.
The Yankees were holding their breath in the meantime while waiting for a concrete diagnosis, a process that took longer than they had hoped.
