Aaron Judge is taking the next step in his recovery, and the Yankees finally have something tangible to point to after nearly three months without their captain.
Manager Aaron Boone said Judge will begin his hitting progression this week as he works back from the stress fracture in his right first rib. Over the last couple of days, Judge has already been doing swing-related work in the pool, while also running and playing catch. He had his first throwing session on August 15.
That doesn’t mean he’s ready to step into the box at Yankee Stadium and start launching balls into the seats. But it does mean another checkpoint has been cleared.
Judge has not played since May 31. The injury began when he dove for a catch against Houston on April 26, his 34th birthday, and he kept playing through the pain before the rib became too difficult to manage. He was eventually placed on the 60-day injured list, leaving the Yankees to piece together an offense without their biggest threat.
Before the shutdown, Judge was hitting .248 with a .375 on-base percentage, .533 slugging percentage and .907 OPS in 59 games. He had 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and 43 runs scored.
For almost any hitter, that line would stand out. For Judge, it was still just part of the story. His power had already cooled before the injury, with only one home run over his final 18 games, but even a quieter version of Judge remained one of the most dangerous bats in the sport.
The contrast in New York has been obvious. The Yankees went 36-23 in the 59 games Judge played, a .610 winning percentage. Since then, they’ve been hovering around .500 and enter this stretch at approximately 69-55, sitting second in the American League East behind Tampa Bay.
The pitching has held up. New York has carried one of the better ERAs in baseball and stayed in the postseason mix.
The offense, though, has been a different story. The Yankees are hitting around .229 as a team with a .308 OBP and .408 slugging percentage, and there have been stretches where scoring three runs has felt like a big ask.
That’s the burden Judge’s absence has placed on the lineup, especially with Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and other key bats also dealing with injuries or unavailable at times.
Boone still hasn’t offered a firm return date, and that makes sense given the nature of the injury. Judge still has work to do: controlled swings need to become full batting work, and that eventually has to lead to facing game-speed pitching. The Yankees also have to be certain the rib can handle the load without becoming a problem again.
September remains a realistic target if everything keeps moving in the right direction.
If Judge can get back with enough time to find his timing before October, the Yankees’ lineup changes fast. There’s no trade-deadline fix for Aaron Judge, and there’s no one waiting on the bench who can replace him. The biggest offensive boost New York can make down the stretch is getting No. 99 back.
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Aaron Judge is finally moving again, and for a Yankees lineup that has spent weeks trying to survive without its centerpiece, that alone changes the mood around the club. Manager Aaron Boone said Judge has started his hitting progression after the stress fracture in his right rib that has kept him out since May 31, a reminder of just how much the offense has missed his presence in the middle of the order.
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