Despite Judge Injury, This Is Not 2023 All Over Again…

With the Knicks in the middle of their first Finals in 27 years, it’s very easy for the baseball teams to get completely overshadowed. 

It’s a Knicks town and we’re all living it. 

However, last week the Yankees were dealt a bad hand involving Aaron Judge. 

Judge has a stress fracture in his ribs that will sideline the next 4-6 weeks and potentially a little longer. 

The Yankees avoided the worst case scenario without question, but for some fans the Judge injury brought back a flashback to a 2023 horror show. 

Remember in 2023, the Yankees were ten games over the .500 mark in early June. Judge crashed into the RF wall at Dodger Stadium. 

He missed close to two months and it torpedoed the Yankees season. 

2023 was the only year the Yankees have missed the postseason since 2017. 

Look, I am not suggesting the Yankees offense won’t miss Aaron Judge. 

Of course they will, but I am here to encourage Yankees fans that this season won’t be 2023 all over again. 

The Yankees in 2026 are a much better team than they were a few years back. 

This current team has a top 5 MVP candidate in their lineup for the first two-plus months in Ben Rice plus another potential All Star in Cody Bellinger. 

The lineup has its faults, but it is deeper and has more ways to beat you compared to the 2023 team. 

Do I need to remind you of the corpses of Josh Donaldson and DJ LeMahieu or the legends of Billy McKinney and Willy Calhoun? 

In addition to a much deeper lineup, the Yankees starting staff in 2026 is light-years better than the 2023 group. 

Yes, the 2023 had Gerrit Cole in the middle of a CY Young season, but the rest of the staff was mediocre at best. 

The 2026 staff may be the best starting rotation in baseball. 

The Yankees have Cole back in the fold, but he’s not the Vegas favorite to win the AL CY Young. 

Cam Schlittler has that title at the moment and has developed into the ace of the Yankees staff this season. 

A Cam/Cole one-two punch combined with the return of Carlos Rodon and eventually Max Fried will put the Yankees in a position where they have an All Star caliber starter on the mound on a night in, night out basis. 

The Yankees eventually need to get Aaron Judge back. 

There is no denying that, but can they survive and still win the AL East without him for the next six weeks? 

The answer to that question is an overwhelming yes! 

This is not 2023 all over again. 

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday & Thursday and after every Knicks Finals game on Spotify/Apple and YouTube. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite following Mets postgame on SNY.