Gold Glover’s Potential Career-Ending Injury Hidden by Yankees
The New York Yankees’ approach to handling and communicating player injuries verges on negligence. Their tendency to obscure injury details—whether for stars like Aaron Judge or lesser-known players—suggests a business driven more by public image than employee health. This pattern of downplaying or misrepresenting player health protects the team’s narrative, but raises questions about their transparency and care for their athletes. The problem is that the franchise is based in New York City, where everyone lives a hard and realistic existence and is not fooled by Disney+ visions.
So, it’s no surprise that when the Yankees shove a prospect in their faces as the next coming of Derek Jeter and fail to live up to it, he will be booed. If he fails at the rate of starting shortstop Anthony Volpe, he will be jeered mercilessly. However, what if the reason for the failure to perform even at the average level is not a regression, but a repression? The Yankees have made it clear that Volpe will start whether rain or shine, day or night, regardless of the results. They will also protect him from criticism from fans and the press alike. The organization led by Yankee GM Brian Cashman and Yankee manager Aaron Boone has made it obvious by now that they will die on the hill of Volpe to prove they could avoid another first-round bust by passing up the greatest shortstop class in recent memory in 2023. Now, what if the primary reason Volpe looks horrible is because of an injury?
Aaron Boone, who has looked more and more flustered and unsure in press conferences, let the cat out of the bag that Volpe has been playing with a partially torn labrum injury dating back to May. Boone's explanation exposed that he is not aware of what's going on with his team. He stated, “He had a partial labrum tear that I think they felt like was an old injury,” indicating uncertainty about when the injury occurred. The Yankees waited until September to reveal this information, although Volpe’s injury reportedly happened on May 3rd. It appears that, as usual, they are seeking fresh excuses for their chosen one and will unearth every rock to remove the heat from his back. Yet, doing so raises more questions for fans, such as why they would risk the long-term health of a young talent. Volpe’s labrum injury, undiscussed publicly for months, could easily worsen and potentially threaten his career.
The Yankees have looked clueless concerning player injuries. They took years to ascertain what was wrong with Luis Severino that cost him four effective years. DJ LeMahieu had foot injuries that they downplayed for three years. They failed to deal well with concussions, which cost Clint Frazier a promising career, and in the case of Anthony Rizzo, didn't even recognize he had one. Rizzo retired from the game a year later. The type of injuries Giancarlo Stanton incurs is always interesting to hear, even missing time to a personal issue they chose not to even comment on, as rumors ran rampant.
On the Yankees Unloaded podcast, Gary Sheffield Jr., son of Yankee great Gary Sheffield, discussed how his father played through two labrum injuries, limiting his ability to raise his arms above his shoulders and altering his fielding technique. Sheffield Jr. also shared that pitchers with similar injuries often saw their careers shortened. In Volpe’s case, the timeline began on May 3rd, when he fell trying a backhanded catch on a short fly ball and landed awkwardly on his shoulder. He later revealed he felt a pop, and an MRI soon after confirmed a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder. Despite this, the Yankees announced the following day that Volpe felt better, and then said nothing further about the injury until months later, in September. The organization’s delayed communication fuels criticism that they are willing to risk their prized prospect’s future due to Cashman’s and the franchise’s stubbornness.
