The Yankees’ latest roster move created room, but it did not answer the question hanging over their final stretch: when will Aaron Judge actually be back in the lineup?
New York opened an active-roster spot Monday by optioning 23-year-old right-hander Elmer Rodríguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, according to MLB’s official transaction log. But the move stopped short of confirming Judge’s return, even with the club still planning for him to face live pitching Monday at Yankee Stadium.
Boone didn’t offer much more than that when asked if Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies was off the table.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Boone said.
That uncertainty sits at the center of the Yankees’ push down the stretch. Judge has been out since May 31 with a stress fracture in his first right rib, and while his baseball work has resumed, the team still has to figure out how much he can handle once he’s back in games.
He went on the injured list June 5, retroactive to June 2, and moved to the 60-day injured list July 18. During the West Coast trip, he took batting practice with teammates, ran the bases before Sunday’s game in San Diego, and handled defensive work in right field. Monday’s live-pitching session would be his first since the injury, and Judge has said he expects to need at least a couple of those before returning.
The Yankees are trying to bring him back without a traditional minor league rehab assignment, which could get his bat into the lineup sooner but leaves less room to rebuild game stamina. That workload is the real issue now. Ken Rosenthal has reported that the Yankees may ease Judge in with shorter games, then check how he responds before deciding how much he can take the next day.
“No one knows just yet what he’ll be able to handle,” Rosenthal said.
There’s also the matter of how careful Judge has to be in the field. Boone has indicated he wants Judge protecting himself more in right field, including when it comes to diving for balls, according to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
The concern isn’t just whether Judge can swing. It’s whether he can run, throw, chase, and stay on his feet through a full night.
The roster math is its own hurdle. Rodríguez’s option opens an active-roster spot, but Judge is on the 60-day injured list, so the Yankees need room on both the active roster and the 40-man roster when they activate him. September clubs can carry 28 active players, with no more than 14 pitchers, which gives New York some flexibility but not a final answer.
The Yankees also haven’t said what the corresponding move would be when Judge comes back. A pitching addition remains possible, and Clarke Schmidt is one name to watch. He’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw two hitless innings for Triple-A on Sunday, and is being prepared for a bullpen role.
Judge’s absence has stretched over 84 team games, and the Yankees have gone 45-39 in that span. They left San Diego with a 4-3 loss after Gerrit Cole gave up three straight homers to start the game, Luis Campusano added a seventh-inning homer, and New York’s three-run rally in the eighth fell short. The club finished its California trip 3-3 and now sits at 81-62, four games behind Tampa Bay and 2 1/2 ahead of Boston for the American League’s top wild-card spot with 19 regular-season games left.
Judge’s numbers before the injury still underline why the Yankees are waiting. In 59 games, he hit .248/.375/.533 with 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .908 OPS.
There’s another outfield wrinkle, too. Trent Grisham went on the 10-day injured list Sept. 5 with a hamstring injury, and later testing revealed a Grade 2 strain. The Yankees recalled Jasson Domínguez, and Grisham’s return for the regular season is now uncertain.
That leaves Boone sorting through Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones and Domínguez in the outfield while also figuring out how Judge fits back in. The Yankees open a six-game homestand Tuesday against Colorado before hosting the Mets from Sept. 11-13, and an early return would give Judge more time to get his rhythm back before October.
For now, the next checkpoint is Monday’s live batting practice in the Bronx. The pitchers still hadn’t been named, no activation date had been announced, and Boone still wasn’t willing to rule out Tuesday.
The roster spot is there. The return, and how much Judge can handle when it comes, still isn’t.
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