Aaron Judge returns to lineup but Yankees are hit with other brutal injury news

A day off is a day off. Think about it. If your boss said "no work today, enjoy" and then called you up at 3:30 p.m. and said "actually, we need you for the next two hours," wouldn't that defeat the purpose? It sure would!

For the second time in as many weeks, Yankees fans broke down because of an injury. Two weeks ago, it was Juan Soto, who missed the series against the Dodgers after suffering from forearm discomfort. The same people losing their minds the day prior were demanding he pinch hit in a big spot in the series opener when he had been resting. Why?

Yankees fans apparently didn't learn, either. Aaron Judge, who got plunked on the hand with a fastball on Tuesday, was out of the lineup on Wednesday as he was still dealing with soreness. The tests came back negative, which was great news, but that doesn't give Judge the green light less than 24 hours after nearly suffering a broken hand.

On Wednesday night with the Yankees in a bind in the later innings, forced to pinch hit Jahmai Jones and watching the usual suspects hit into outs in big spots, the fans did it again. They wanted Judge pinch-hitting in a largely impact-less June game.

Yes, these contests against the Orioles matter because of the division race, but nobody's sacrificing a June 19 game for Judge's long-term health. And anyway, he's back in the lineup for Thursday, so quit your whining.

Aaron Judge returns to lineup but Yankees are hit with other brutal injury news

Everybody will pay for that useless belly-aching, though, because in the same pregame presser, manager Aaron Boone revealed bad news about Jasson Dominguez.

The Yankees' top prospect went down over the weekend with a left side injury that has now been deemed an oblique strain. Boone said Dominguez is expected to miss two months, which should put his potential 2024 Yankees debut closer to three months out.

If you want to complain about something, it's this, because Dominguez probably should've never required an extended minor-league stint beyond his dominant rehab assignment and initial showing at Triple-A.

The star slugger came up last season in September and absolutely ignited the Yankees' lineup for a week before going down with Tommy John surgery. The Yankees claimed there was no path to playing time for Dominguez at the big-league level in 2024 despite the team employing a bench of Trent Grisham, Jahmai Jones and Oswaldo Cabrera — all of whom are in some way expendable if you're looking to upgrade your roster with a talent like Dominguez.

Gerrit Cole comes back, two pitchers go down. Aaron Judge comes back, the next most impactful long-term Yankee hits the shelf. New York will hopefully weather the storm, but it's turning into another exhausting year filled with unavoidable injuries.