The New York Yankees, despite holding baseball’s best record, have a few lingering issues from their weekend series with the Chicago White Sox.
Not only did they lose two out of three, but third baseman Josh Donaldson was issued a one-game suspension as a result of an altercation he had with White Sox star shortstop Tim Anderson.
Donaldson started a conflict when he called Anderson “Jackie,” referring to a 2019 interview when Anderson likened himself to Jackie Robinson, causing the benches to clear.
Donaldson’s teammate Aaron Judge was asked about the Donaldson suspension and sounded off on the issue, as seen in the tweet below by Yankees MLB.com reporter Bryan Hoch.
Aaron Judge on the Josh Donaldson suspension:
"It's a tough one. Joke or not, I just don't think it's the right thing to do there, especially given the history, the series in Chicago. . … JD made a mistake, owned up to it, and now we've got to move on."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 24, 2022
Judge Calls Out Donaldson
Judge is being brutally honest here.
It’s clear that he cares about Donaldson as a friend and a teammate, but also isn’t afraid to call him out when he’s wrong.
Donaldson may have simply been joking, as Judge alluded to, but Judge is correct that it was not the correct thing to say in that moment, especially given the history between the two players.
Again, he’ll do anything to stick up for his teammate and is doing the right thing by acknowledging the suspension while also saying that it’s time to move on from the incident.
Judge also mentioned that Donaldson spoke to his teammates about the incident and acknowledged his mistake, while also referencing Anderson’s comments from 2019.
He is appealing the suspension, however.
The good thing is that Donaldson at least owned up to it and acknowledged that he went too far.
But Judge, while having Donaldson’s back, still made it very clear that he did not agree with Donaldson’s choice of words in that moment.
