“The main goal is to be game-ready for Opening Day” - Aaron Judge dismisses injury concerns as Yankees slugger gears up for regular season 

Aaron Judge provided a positive update on the latest abdomen and oblique concerns in the past few weeks. The Yankees, who already lost Gerrit Cole for the initial few months due to an elbow injury, would like to see Judge taking the plate on Opening Day.

Judge, who hasn't played since last Sunday, managed to get some swings in the cage on Friday as he worked towards getting ready by Opening Day:

“I think just cage work today,’’ Judge said. “The main goal is to be game-ready for Opening Day [in Houston on March 28]. I’m just gonna work towards that."

The cage work follows after he received a clean update on his MRI results for the abdomen strain that forced him to miss out on Grapefruit League games:

"All I’ll say is we’re feeling pretty good. The MRIs came back clean," Judge said. "I think a lot of it was precautionary; no need to risk stuff in Spring Training." [via Bryan Hoch].

Judge also addressed whether he would play Saturday's game against Atlanta:

“I don’t know. We’ll see when that day comes.”

Aaron Boone takes cautious approach with Aaron Judge, says, "There’s not a rush"

Yankees management and manager Aaron Boone are taking a cautious approach with their captain, as they need a healthy Aaron Judge when the regular season hits:

“Again, he’s OK,’’ Boone said about Judge. “It’s not stuff we’re concerned with. We’re just making sure that we don’t turn it into something. There’s not a rush. We’ll see what he does [Saturday] and get together and map out the next few days.”

When reporters asked if there is any deadline by which Judge needs to play a game before appearing on Opening Day, Boone said there was, but didn't pinpoint the exact timeline:

“I expect him to be there,’’ Boone said.

It's not the first time that Judge has faced core muscle concerns. He missed time back in 2019 due to oblique strains.

Apart from abdomen issues, Judge also needs to take care of his toe, due to which he missed some playing time in 2023. However, the former MVP said that his toe is feeling good.

Aaron Judge is expected to be stationed at center field this year, with Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto manning the corner outfield positions.