Aaron Judge: He had been playing through an injury for over a month

In the last few hours, it was reported that Aaron Judge will be out for quite some time. The Yankees' captain, whose health had been a concern for the past few days, will ultimately be sidelined for several weeks.

The team expects to see him back this season, however. In the meantime, Spencer Jones will step in to replace him.

That said, it was still unclear exactly when Judge had originally been injured. We knew he'd been dealing with the injury for a while… but the captain revealed it's been over a month.

He believes he was injured on April 27 while diving for a ball in the outfield.

Judge, who doesn't want to discuss a timeline for his return (because he doesn't find them reliable), tried to keep playing anyway, but the pain forced him to stop. That's when he was sent to consult with specialists, and the diagnosis was made.

But why did he keep playing? He explains that with Giancarlo Stanton and Max Fried sidelined, he felt the need to be on the field. That's what he's paid for, after all.

One might wonder if the Yankees could have shortened the duration of his absence if he had stopped playing a little sooner. And right now, that's a question that must be on the team's mind.

That doesn't take anything away from Judge's captain's mentality, of course, but it might have been wiser to give him some rest rather than keep playing him through the pain. But what's done is done, as they say.

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