Aaron Judge's Season in Jeopardy?! Craig Carton Reveals Scary Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Concern

**Craig Carton** (0:02)
All right, welcome back, Carton Show.
Obviously, much more coming up on The Knicks Big Win, but when news is happening involving Aaron Judge, we have to bring it to you. We were gonna wait till 5 o'clock, but you know, it's happening now. So Big Mac has it, and it's very concerning. If you're a New York Yankee fan, go ahead.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:21)
Well, yeah, the Pinstripe preview is brought to you by California Cryobank. Help build a dynasty, become a donor with the world's number one sperm bank. Now, technically nothing new. Aaron Boone met the media today, after the game, and said, still no update on Judge. No update on Judge.
Waiting for an update.

**Craig Carton** (0:39)
I mean, at X-Rays, right?

**Chris McMonigle** (0:40)
Had more imaging. Went mid-game, he went and asked about it. After the game, he's asked about it. Aaron Boone is making it clear. He has no information on an update, but here's what they did acknowledge.
For the last two days, they've been saying a specialist has been looking. They wanted to send this information to a specialist. His imaging to a specialist. Right now, the Yankees have confirmed that that specialist is Dr. Gregory Pearl in Dallas. He is one of the leading specialists in Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

**Craig Carton** (1:11)
Yeah, so Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is when your clavicle and first rib are a little too close to each other and your veins get compromised. So what happens is the blood flow stops flowing down to your arm and to your fingers. I've had it, Matt Harvey had it, if I'm not mistaken as well.
Yeah, so what happens is they take out your first rib, they then replace the bad vein, it's a blood clot, it's what starts to form and it's obviously close to your heart, so it becomes problematic. So they take out your first rib, they repair the vein by taking a vein either from your groin or your ankle, and then they stitch it back up and you recover fine, and you can play baseball, but you're out for the rest of the year.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:52)
Yes, that's the thought.

**Craig Carton** (1:54)
That's the concern, so if it is thoracic ulceration, we don't know that. It's not a rest thing, it is a guaranteed 100% surgery.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:00)
Yes, if that's the news that that's what he has, it is most likely season ending for Judge. Now, just want to be clear on the information, they are not saying he needs that surgery.
They have no update, but for the last day and a half, they said this information and the imaging has been sent to a specialist. They are now confirming that, at least Brian Hoker is reporting, that the Yankees have confirmed that the specialist looking at his imaging is Dr. Gregory Pearl, who specializes in...

**Craig Carton** (2:31)
Well, that's why they went to him then.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:33)
So that they want to either rule that out, or that something in the imaging tells them he might have it. One or the other, right?

**Craig Carton** (2:40)
The way they tell you you have it is A imaging, which I've had, and they put a dye in you, and they see the flow of blood going down your arm, and it usually stops before they get to your shoulder, and then come down your arm to your fingers. The symptoms are tingly fingers. Sometimes your arm and your fingers turn purple because the blood flow is not going the way it should be going. And then the other thing they do is to have you hold up your hands like you're under arrest, and they see the kind of blood and color flow out of your fingers, and then you go to the ER.
And by the way, if you have Thoracic Allergy Syndrome, it is emergency surgery. Meaning...

**Chris McMonigle** (3:17)
There's no messing around. It's not like he could play through it, have surgery in the off-season.

**Craig Carton** (3:20)
No.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:21)
No.

**Craig Carton** (3:22)
It is. And I don't want to scare anybody.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:24)
He has to have it quickly.

**Craig Carton** (3:25)
If he is diagnosed today with Thoracic Allergy Syndrome, he is in an ER tonight and surgery tonight or tomorrow morning. Because they're concerned about a blood clot forming and then that blood clot loosens up and now you're in trouble. So it's not a funny thing. It's not an easy thing to fix. But once it's fixed, it's fixed.
The only thing long-term that becomes a problem, and I'm not sure how much weight lifting he does, and he was obviously a big guy, is if you start doing a lot of bench pressing and shoulder work and you build up the muscle in that area, obviously you could be prone to it happening theoretically again. Very rare to happen a second time. But he's done for the year if that's the case.