Aaron Judge was seen at home with a small bandage after taking a ball to the face at the end of the 4th inning against the Mets, which sparked questions about what had actually happened. As it turns out, the one responsible was none other than one of his own teammates — Anthony Volpe, who threw the ball toward the unsuspecting Yankees captain.
Bryan Hoch was among the first to report. This type of exchange, where players toss balls around after leaving the field, is common. However, the Yankees captain, who was supposed to catch the ball, wasn’t paying attention.
Fortunately for Yankees fans, Judge only required a bandage and was able to remain in the game for the next inning. Despite this, blood was clearly visible near his right eye after being struck. When he returned to the game, his team was still trailing.
Social Media Reacts Negatively to Volpe
Predictably, comments criticizing Volpe for hitting Judge with the ball flooded social media, particularly on X. Many users accused him of consistently underperforming for the team.
Losing Aaron Judge to such an avoidable incident would have been a significant blow for the Yankees, who recently did not rank among the top six MLB teams with the most injured players. At least they’ve managed to stay relatively “healthy” compared to the Mets, who currently have 16 players on the injured list.
How Badly is Volpe Performing This Season?
Really bad. Before Game 2 of the Subway Series against the Mets, he held a mere .222 batting average, which placed him quite low in the analysis of his spot on the Yankees’ roster. A curious statistic highlighted by Yes Network is that Volpe is currently leading MLB in the category of runners left on base with 152 this season.
