Aaron Judge's spectacular catch has come at a major cost — and not only to the grounds crew at Dodger Stadium. Since tearing a ligament in his right big toe on June 3 upon falling through the Los Angeles Dodgers' right-field bullpen fence, Judge remains out of the lineup with no clear timeline for his return.
Despite the lingering nature of his injury, Judge told the New York Daily News on Friday that he does not plan to take any legal action.
"Nah, no need," Judge said to the Daily News regarding a potential lawsuit.
Had Judge been interested, there is a precedent for this type of dispute. In 2017, former Yankees outfielder Dustin Fowler sued the Chicago White Sox over an injury he suffered at Guaranteed Rate Field when he crashed into an electrical box while chasing down a foul ball.
Given Fowler's injury came in his MLB debut and resulted in season-ending surgery, perhaps he was more inclined than Judge to take legal action, yet the Yankee superstar's 2023 outlook appears similarly bleak.
"It doesn't feel great," Judge told reporters on Tuesday, which marked more than a month since the incident occurred. "I don’t think it will ever feel normal. I can move around pretty well, but any injury, [it can bother you for] a year or two or three years. You never know what it’s gonna feel like."
Although Judge has made his stance clear, Michael Sorich, the lawyer who represented Fowler, told the Daily News that the Yankees' captain has a case.
"Could [the Dodgers] have taken precautions to remedy that or protect players that maybe would be in that vicinity? Sure," Sorich asked. "I mean, that would certainly be the argument I would make if I was Aaron Judge's lawyer."