Roger Rubin: Yankees should be happy if Aaron Judge, who was activated Monday, is full-go for postseason
Yankees rightfielder Aaron Judge works out before a game against the San Diego Padres on Sunday in San Diego. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
The Yankees had an off day on Monday. Aaron Judge did not. He began the most anticipated week of this Yankees season by facing live pitching at the Stadium.
On Sunday in San Diego, the three-time American League MVP called facing pitchers the last step in his rehabilitation from the right rib stress fracture that has sidelined him since the start of June. It clearly went well. On Monday evening, the Yankees announced that he was being activated from the 60-day injured list.
The move forecasts that he will be back in the starting lineup on Tuesday evening when the Yankees open a six-game homestand against Colorado. And if you believe in happy coincidences — or signs from the universe — No. 99 is returning after missing 99 days since he last played on May 31.
Judge didn’t want to go on a minor-league rehab assignment. It’s essentially been his philosophy of not wanting to waste at-bats, and he’s gone on only one in 10 seasons. But it also could be about the urgency of the moment with the Yankees four games behind the AL East-leading Rays with 19 to play and only two games ahead of the Red Sox for the American League's top wild card and home-field advantage (really three because the Yankees have the tiebreaker).
On Sunday, manager Aaron Boone was specifically asked about Judge returning for the Rockies series and was cagey with reporters, saying “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Well, now we know.
The Yankees have been a different team without Judge, though still successful. When he last played, they were 36-23 and averaging 5.2 runs per game. Without him, they have struggled offensively and have gone 45-39 with an average of 4.1 runs. They have ranked at or near the bottom of the American League in almost every offensive category.
Of course the anticipation of seeing Judge back on the field is enormous, but it is tinged with serious curiosity about what kind of player we will see when it happens.
Will he be the same guy that had a .907 OPS with 17 home runs and 38 RBIs in 59 games before the injury? Something less than that? Expectations probably need to be tempered.
Chasing down the Rays to win the division title and get a bye in the first round of the playoffs is at the forefront of the Yankees' mind right now. It should not overshadow the one thing that might be even more important: having Judge back in top form in time for the postseason.
He hasn’t played in a game in more than three months. The games in these final weeks of the season should give him the runway to get his timing right, shake off any rust and acclimate himself to big-league pitching and game intensity.
Judge told YES Network on Sunday that facing live pitching and running the bases more would be essential to “just kind of get your feet underneath you so that when we go out here for nine innings, we're ready to go, and hit the ground running.”
He could get some starts at designated hitter, but playing rightfield is the goal because, right now, Boone has juggled three guys — Ben Rice, Luis Garcia Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt — for the first base and DH spots in the lineup.
This seems like the appropriate moment to examine how Judge has performed when coming back from injury and how long it took for him to round into form. For the sake of comparison, we’re figuring he plays in 16 of the final 19 regular-season games.
After he missed six weeks with a wrist injury in 2018, there were 13 games left in the regular season. Judge hit .220 with one home run and six RBIs in them.
His next long stint on the IL was for an oblique injury in 2019 and lasted two months. He played in five games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before returning, and it seemed to make a difference. He went 2-for-16 with a home run and eight strikeouts in his rehab games but was in top form when he rejoined the Yankees, hitting .321 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in his first 16 games back.
In 2023, he missed seven weeks after suffering a sprained right big toe in a collision with the Dodger Stadium wall. In his first 16 games back, he hit .260 with three home runs, five RBIs and a .916 OPS.
Judge missed 10 games last season with a flexor strain in his right elbow and ended up winning his third MVP award, finishing with a .331 batting average, 53 home runs, 114 RBIs and a 1.144 OPS. He was restricted from throwing for the first month back and batted only .217 with three home runs and seven RBIs in his first 16 games.
Boone will write Judge’s name on a lineup card Tuesday and it instantly will make the Yankees better. Everyone around him in the order is going to see better pitches to hit, and his presence will wear on opposing pitchers.
But whether he is the masher everyone is hoping for right out of the gate shouldn’t be a big deal. The Yankees really just need Judge to be that guy come October. As long as he gets there, it shouldn’t matter what it looks like along the way.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
