David Lennon: Yankees' Aaron Judge doesn't sound all that far away from return
Yankees' Aaron Judge poses for a photo with a fan before a baseball game against the Houston Astros on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
Consider Aaron Judge on the express track for the Subway Series.
That’s my projected timeline, anyway. Circle that Bronx rematch scheduled for Sept. 11-13.
Might even be sooner if the preceding Rockies series figures to be a well-suited runway to New York’s marquee baseball event.
Judge didn’t offer a return date of his own Thursday afternoon despite some persistent prodding at his locker, but the Yankees' captain dropped plenty of hints during his eight-minute chat. And with his rehab now accelerating faster than at any previous point during his nearly three-month absence because of a stress fracture of his right first rib, he made it clear that these final stages shouldn’t hold him back too much longer.
“I feel great, so I think that’s one reason why we’re kind of speeding through this,” said Judge, who hasn't played since May 31. “Doing more outside, doing more in the cage. Now it’s about volume — trying to get my volume back up since I haven’t played in quite a long time.”
Judge isn’t concerning himself with any potential stop signs. The last time he spoke publicly, after being cleared for limited physical activity on Aug. 6, Judge described the damaged rib as still healing, based on the most recent scans. But when I asked him Thursday if there had been another scan since then, he seemed to indicate that he personally didn’t feel the need for any further imaging.
“That’s why I was hesitant about getting a scan in the first place,” Judge said, “because usually they base everything off that. But I was kind of like, let’s base it on how I feel, and if I’m feeling good, why can’t we keep progressing? So we’ll just keep progressing.”
Now about that progression. Judge has advanced to doing just about everything baseball-related, short of facing the high-velocity Trajekt machine that simulates major-league pitching, and apparently has no intention of going on a rehab assignment that would further delay his return.
If anyone not named Judge had missed such a huge chunk of the season, being shipped off to Scranton or Somerset would be non-negotiable. But the three-time MVP and face of the franchise believes his best route back shouldn’t detour from the Bronx, and he wants to make sure the message is heard loud and clear.
On Thursday, he referenced his recovery from a torn ligament in his right big toe that cost him 42 games during the 2023 season, when Judge also bypassed a rehab assignment.
“Why waste at-bats? Why waste anything down in a minor-league game?” Judge said. “I’ve been doing this for a while now. I got a sense of what I need to do on the field and how to manage it. So why waste the at-bats at Double-A or Triple-A?”
Judge’s resume suggests he knows what’s doing, but that doesn’t mean the Yankees can’t have a dissenting opinion. Manager Aaron Boone tends to tiptoe around such topics as if a grenade had been tossed at his feet. When he was told Thursday of Judge’s plans to skip a rehab stint in the minors, he smiled.
“He said that to me, too,” Boone replied. “If and when we get to that point, we’ll work through all that.”
In his mind, is it possible for Judge to get up to speed timing-wise without leaving the Bronx for a few nights?
“I don’t worry about that part of it,” Boone said. “The biggest thing sometimes with rehabs is just building guys up and getting them used to playing. There’s also creative ways of doing that, too. As we get closer to that point, we’ll make that decision collectively.”
Said Judge, “I feel like if I tell them I’m ready to go play, I think we’re ready to go play. I don’t think there’s going to be much of a fight.”
Sounds as if Judge already has made up his mind, so we’ll be curious to see who tells him otherwise.
The clock is ticking. Bottom line, he wants to return ASAP, and he expects to be a full-go when he’s back in the lineup. That includes taking his regular position in rightfield, which he never thought was even a question.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Judge’s patched-up rib would be better protected at DH, but the Yankees are overcrowded there, even with Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) likely out for the season. Judge insists that it’s possible to be more careful when it comes to diving or contacting the wall.
“I’m going to play smart,” he said. “I’m going to still try to make every play that I can. But you got to be smart, especially near the end of the year now. If it’s Game 7 of the World Series, I’ll definitely be diving, so I don’t think that’ll ever change. But just be smart the next couple weeks as we get back and we’ll be good.”
The Yankees have been counting the days. They were 36-23 when he stopped playing and entered Thursday night's game against the Astros at 39-34 without him.
Minus Judge, their 3.97 runs per game since June 1 is the fifth-worst total in the majors. Their .222 batting average and 88 wRC+ both rank dead last.
The offense has shown noticeable improvement lately, thanks to the trade for Luis Garcia Jr. (five homers, .924 OPS in 19 games; 7-for-10 with two homers and five RBIs in the first two games against the Astros) and Cody Bellinger’s weekend return from the injured list. But there is no substitute for Judge, as Boone was reminded walking past the captain’s first real batting-practice session Wednesday in the indoor cages.
“I stopped and watched a half-dozen swings,” Boone said. “I was like, that’s Aaron Judge right there. So it was encouraging.”
And finally, in what seems like forever, Judge’s return is starting to feel real, too.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
