Yankees star Aaron Judge thinks toe injury will require 'constant maintenance' through end of his career

Aaron Judge may be healthy now headed into spring training, but his toe injury isn’t completely behind him.

The New York Yankees star, who missed 42 games after he crashed into the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium last season and injured his toe, said he’s going to have to keep on top of his toe for the rest of his time in the league.

"It's going to be, I think, a constant maintenance … the rest of my career," Judge said Tuesday, via The Associated Press. "Anything with injuries like that, you just got to stay on top of it so it doesn't flare up again."

Judge crashed through the fence at Dodger Stadium on June 3 while making a wild catch in a game against the Dodgers.

The play, though, resulted in a torn ligament in his toe. He missed 42 games as a result, and didn't return to the lineup until July 28. He hit .262 with 37 home runs and 75 RBI in 106 games last season. He hit his 250th career home run, which made him the fastest player in the league to ever reach that mark, and he had two games with three home runs last season.

The Yankees, however, ended up with an 82-80 record, their worst since 1992, and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

"A lot of guys were embarrassed," Judge said. "Kind of a wake-up call, and I think just collectively as a group we all kind of looked at each other and said this can't happen again."

The Yankees will open their season against the Houston Astros on March 28. Judge will now be in center field when they kick off the season.

"I keep getting hurt in right field, so I think that's why they moved me to center field," he said, jokingly. "I think it's about playing smarter, understanding the field, understanding the dimensions. In that case, I thought I had one extra step and I didn't in that situation, so that always goes back on me. I got to be a little smarter there.

"So, yeah, just like this year, I've got play smart. But, no, I don't think they'll be any cement bottoms of walls in center field."