News Report: Yankees officials decides to give judge suspension after the captain complained about…….. more 
Yankees officials want to alibi last season away to injury, notably freak ones that limited Judge to 106 games and Anthony Rizzo to 99. But using injuries as an excuse is generally weak tea, especially when you consider, for example, that the Astros’ two best offensive players, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, played just 114 and 90 games, respectively, and Houston still averaged the fifth most runs per game and somehow managed to make it to ALCS Game 7.The Yankees attempted to remove the one-man-band stigma dramatically by trading for Juan Soto. A healthy Judge-Soto combination should make the Yankees, at minimum, a top-10 offense again. But the Yanks believe they are more than a 1-2 punch.We have a chance to be an outstanding offense,” Aaron Boone said. “I’ve maintained that from the start, especially coming off a season where it was a struggle for us offensively. Obviously we gotta stay healthy, we gotta stay focused. But I feel like the opportunity to be an elite offense exists for us.”DJ LeMahieu (35), Anthony Rizzo (34) and Giancarlo Stanton (34) have injury concerns, including this spring training when (freak injury alert) LeMahieu fouled a ball off his right foot and is iffy for the Opening Day roster. With Josh Donaldson and Evan Longoria no longer playing, LeMahieu is now the game’s oldest regular third baseman.Rizzo had a lat issue he said he was unconcerned about, but he does have a chronic back issue. Stanton looks physically great this spring, but has been on the IL eight times in the past five seasons.
Rizzo was terrific before his concussion last year. LeMahieu was strong down the stretch of 2023 after a change at hitting coach and further healing of a foot injury. Stanton has his legs right now and is not just swinging with his upper body. That is the optimism for a group that will surround Soto and Judge in the lineup.
