Ominous Aaron Judge comment on injury timeline has Yankees fans down bad

The New York Yankees received "good" news when it was revealed Aaron Judge's toe wasn't fractured ... but there also hasn't been clarity on his timetable for return. His sprained toe surely won't limit him to a 10-day IL stint, based on what we've heard thus far.

Manager Aaron Boone seemed fed up fielding questions about it last week, claiming there was no timetable as the team continues to handle Judge's injury. That didn't make anybody feel better, since it had been five days after Judge got hurt.

Here we are, nine days out, and there's still no clarity, which has fans worried because every player who needs to step up in the slugger's absence -- Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rizzo -- all failed miserably in various respects over the last two series.

Unfortunately, it really seems like the team will have to rely on those guys for the foreseeable future, because even Judge doesn't have any answers. What he told reporters Sunday night might've made fans feel worse, in fact.

Yankees' Aaron Judge has ominous comment about injury timetable

"There’s still a bunch of stuff going on in there. But improvements each day, which has been a good sign. No step backs or any holdups. We’re on the right track.

Things like this take time. It’s just such a unique situation. If it was like a hamstring or something with the shoulder, there’s a little better foundation to know when to come back. We’ll be back.

I think it’s all based on pain. It’s a good sign that it’s feeling better every single day. I don’t think there’s a need for a timeline."

- Aaron Judge, NY Post

The Yankees and Judge have made valid points about not offering a concrete timetable. There's no winning. If they say, for example, a month, there will be panic. If they say two weeks and Judge isn't back in two weeks, then far too many questions and concerns begin to arise.

Chalk it up to being a Yankee, though. Another impossible injury situation that's beyond frustrating for everybody involved to navigate.

Judge also told reporters he had "no idea" when he'd be able to begin baseball activities and said the injury was "concerning," given how a similar toe issue in 2022 plagued DJ LeMahieu and sapped him of his power (which could still very well be the case, given how bad he's been in 2023).

So, yeah, not sure where the Yankees go from here, but the current skeleton crew has no choice but to get the job done against the Mets and Red Sox before we're able to comfortably breathe again.