BALTIMORE - The Yankees are finally starting to get movement from a group that has spent much of the summer stuck in rehab limbo.
Aaron Judge is moving into a hitting progression, Cody Bellinger has a rehab game on the calendar, and Giancarlo Stanton is nearing the finish line of the running work that has slowed his return for weeks. After so much waiting, there are now actual baseball checkpoints to point to.
That matters for a lineup that has had to keep grinding without three of its biggest bats. On Tuesday at Camden Yards, New York managed only five hits, but Trent Grisham drove in all three runs in a 3-1 win over the Orioles.
Judge’s recovery has been the most notable development. Manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that the Yankees captain will begin a hitting progression this week. Judge has already been doing swing-related work in a pool while ramping up his running and throwing.
It is a meaningful step for a player who has been limited mainly to lower-body work while healing from a fractured first rib on his right side. Judge played catch Friday for the first time since going on the injured list and has kept running without a setback.
“He’s progressing,” Boone said.
There is still no target date for his return, and the Yankees have not said when he might move on to full batting practice or live pitching. Judge has not played since May 31, when he was hitting .248 with 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .907 OPS. He was later moved to the 60-day injured list.
Judge has said all along that he expects to play again in 2026.
“I’ll be back this season,” Judge said earlier this month.
Bellinger looks closer than Judge to getting back in the mix. He said Tuesday that he plans to play for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Aug. 20, which would start his minor league rehab assignment after nearly four weeks out with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring.
The Yankees initially put his recovery at four to six weeks after he hurt the hamstring while running out a double against Philadelphia on July 25, and his timeline is now lining up with the better end of that range.
Bellinger has already done plenty of on-field work, including running, defensive drills and batting practice. He said he expects to need more than one rehab game, though he left room for a faster return if the hamstring responds well.
“You want to come back and stay,” Bellinger said.
Before the injury, Bellinger had played 102 games and hit .259 with 11 home runs, 53 RBIs and a .770 OPS. His absence has mattered even more because it overlapped with Judge and Stanton being out too.
Stanton is still behind Bellinger, but he has also made real progress. Boone said Tuesday that Stanton is “towards the end of his running program,” and that the work has gotten more intense with good results.
Running has been the roadblock in Stanton’s comeback. He first strained his right calf in April and then had another setback while running the bases at Yankee Stadium. He kept hitting through much of the rehab process, but the Yankees could not move him forward until the calf handled more demanding running work.
By early August, Stanton had started a light baserunning progression after previously running in the outfield. The next big question is whether he will need a minor league rehab assignment, and Boone has not offered a date for that decision.
Stanton has been out since April 24. In 24 games, he hit .256 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.
There is also another possible reinforcement on the pitching side. Boone said right-hander Luis Gil has completed his rehab assignment with High-A Hudson Valley and has returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he works back from right shoulder inflammation.
Gil made two appearances for Hudson Valley. On Aug. 11, he threw 13 pitches in one inning. Three days later, he worked two scoreless innings and threw 30 pitches.
What happens next will help determine whether he can factor into the Yankees’ September plans. Gil opened the season in the majors but struggled, allowing 13 runs in 19 1/3 innings across four starts before being sent to Triple-A. He later went on the minor league injured list with the shoulder issue.
With the calendar moving and the postseason race tightening, a bullpen role may be the most realistic path back for him this season.
For months, the Yankees’ injury updates were mostly about waiting. Now there are actual steps in motion: Judge is moving toward hitting, Stanton is nearing the end of his running progression, Bellinger has a rehab assignment scheduled, and Gil is back at Triple-A. Bellinger gets the first chance to turn that progress into an active return on Thursday.
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