A day after Aaron Judge made waves in modifying the terminology while describing his injury, the Yankees tried to clarify that nothing has changed regarding the captain’s big toe.
Judge is officially on the injured list with a “right great toe sprain,” and the outfielder said Saturday he had “torn a ligament” in his toe.
The difference is semantics, the Yankees say.
Sprains are tears.
“There’s levels of ‘sprain,’ which is all a ‘tear,’” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday before the Yankees beat the Rangers, 5-3, in the series finale in The Bronx. “It’s not any worse than we thought once we got the imaging and everything.”
The precise nomenclature is less notable than the fact that Judge, three weeks after crashing his foot into the concrete ledge below the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium, said he still feels pain in his toe when he walks.
Judge and the Yankees repeatedly have said they do not know when he can return.
Judge, in stating he would not begin baseball activities as hoped this weekend, generated less optimism than the team expressed earlier in the week.
On Tuesday, Boone said the outfielder may have had a “breakthrough” after he received a second platelet-rich plasma shot in the area.
Sunday, Boone said the “breakthrough” has allowed progress, but incremental.
“The second PRP shot, just in my conversations with Aaron on a daily basis, I think he felt like that was a little bit of a difference-maker,” Boone said. “Since that point, I think he’s started to see the steady improvements, albeit small, each day.”
Ian Hamilton(right groin strain) brought his luggage to the Stadium on Sunday and is expected to rejoin the club in Oakland for the series that begins Tuesday.
“That’s the plan,” Boone said of the valuable reliever.
The righty has been out since sustaining the groin injury May 16, hitting the injured list after allowing just three runs in 22 innings (1.23 ERA).
Hamilton said he felt good after three rehab assignment appearances with Double-A Somerset.
In the final one, on Saturday, he was stretched beyond one inning, recording four outs without allowing a base runner and striking out one.
In his second game on a rehab assignment, Carlos Rodon (left forearm strain and back discomfort) threw four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks with Somerset.
The left-hander, who threw 48 pitches and struck out four, is expected to need one more rehab start before making his Yankees debut.
Michael King’s strikeout of Marcus Semien in the ninth inning was the righty’s 200th career strikeout.
Anthony Rizzo(0-for-3 with a walk) has reached base in each of his past 12 games, marking his second-longest such streak this season.