The Yankees got one key answer Monday and one much bigger question.
Giancarlo Stanton put himself on track for the Wild Card Series by taking five plate appearances, then running in the outfield and on the bases. Aaron Judge, meanwhile, kept working back from a strained right calf, but his day stopped short of the running and defensive work the Yankees still want to see before giving him the green light.
That split matters because New York opens its best-of-three series against the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, and the roster decisions are now about more than just who can swing a bat. They’re about who can handle everything October might ask.
Judge has been pushing hard to get back after missing time since Sept. 16 with a moderate strain of the soleus muscle in his right calf. That came only eight days after he returned from a three-month absence caused by a right rib stress fracture. The Yankees have seen one comeback go sideways already, and that history hangs over this one.
Stanton’s path is clearer. He has not played in a major league game since April 24 because of three calf strains, but Monday gave the Yankees the sign they were looking for.
Judge, by contrast, took four plate appearances, drew two walks, struck out looking and hit a grounder back to the mound. He did not run outdoors or take part in defensive work.
That leaves Stanton expected to make the Wild Card roster, while the Yankees still sound cautious on Judge.
“He’s making progress. We’ll continue to see where he’s at,” Aaron Boone said.
Judge’s bat appears ahead of his legs right now. He faced Elmer Rodríguez and Ryan Weathers during the workout, and the results mattered less than the simple fact that he got live pitching without an obvious setback. He had already been hitting indoors and using an anti-gravity treadmill, but the missing step is still the important one: he has not run the bases since the injury, and he did not test the calf in the outfield Monday.
That’s especially significant because Judge wants to return as a right fielder, not just as a DH or a pinch hitter.
“I’ve been doing a lot of convincing, I feel like, so I’m going to keep doing that,” Judge said. “We’re all going to be smart, but I think they all know I want to be out there, especially in the first game.”
The Yankees also have to think about how the roster fits together. Stanton would likely be used mostly as a pinch-hitter. If Judge is in a similar limited role, Boone would be carrying two high-profile bats with little defensive or running value in a short series.
Boone wouldn’t go there Monday, saying the club still needed input from the medical and training staffs. Judge was just as clear that the final call is out of his hands.
“I’m a part of zero plans,” Judge said. “They make the decisions.
They kind of run this. So I voice my opinions.
That might be 1 percent of what goes into the final say so.”
The Yankees have four injured players on very different timelines, and that shapes the whole picture. Stanton’s last major league game came 158 days ago.
Weathers has been out 38 days. Trent Grisham has been sidelined 25 days.
Judge has been out 13.
Grisham, who has been running and hitting, was described by Boone as “very much in play” for the Wild Card roster. If he’s ready, he gives the Yankees a real center fielder and a late-game defensive option.
Weathers has faced hitters and recently reached 96 mph, but his route onto the roster is less straightforward. The Yankees are weighing carrying only 10 or 11 pitchers, and with starters such as Carlos Rodón and Will Warren available in relief, they can afford to use an extra spot on a position player. That could push Weathers toward a later round even if his arm continues to respond well.
There’s also one more layer to the Judge decision: the format itself. If New York gets past Boston, it can reset its roster for the Division Series. That means the Yankees could keep Judge out of the Wild Card round and buy him a few more recovery days without ending his postseason.
When he’s healthy, he changes the lineup. In 66 regular-season games, Judge hit .241 with 18 home runs, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS.
Monday showed the swing is coming along. The real question now is whether the Yankees want to ask his calf to do the rest.
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