Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees captain and three-time AL MVP, just got cleared for light workout activity, declaring Wednesday that he will be back on the field this season from the rib injury that’s sidelined him since May 31. “Oh, I’ll be back this season. I don’t know why I wouldn’t be,” Judge said at Yankee Stadium. He confirmed, “That was always the plan to come back , sooner than later, definitely. But I never had a thought of not playing this year.”
Back on the Grass: What’s Happening Now
Wednesday saw Judge in baseball gear, stretching, jogging, and doing shuffle slides with a resistance band. His latest scan on Tuesday gave him the green light to progress. “Better news. Healing up. So, you get a chance to progress a little bit, do some running, do some more upper-body stuff, and kind of progress towards getting back out on the field and swinging it,” he explained. He’s clearly itching, saying, “I wish it was completely healed and the fracture was gone and start playing tomorrow, but that’s not the case. But, great step forward.” Judge admitted it’s still a while before he’s back in the lineup. Hitting? That’s the real test. “I think that’s going to be the ultimate test, is hitting,” he stated. “That’s the most violent of it all, I think, more than running or lifting and stuff like that.” No target date from him or manager Aaron Boone either. Judge even joked about forcing his trainers, “The minute they said all right, we’re going to start running, I said, ‘OK, I’ll see you outside.’”
The Brutal Truth For The Bombers
Judge is still on the 60-day injured list with a stress fracture of his right rib. Before the IL, he was hitting .248 with 17 homers, 38 RBIs, and a .907 OPS. But he had only one homer in his last 18 games before getting sidelined. And the team? Since Judge last played, the Yankees, at 64-50 going into Wednesday night’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, are a mediocre 28-27. Their offense has been one of the worst in the majors during that stretch. It’s not just Judge out either: they’ve been without DH Giancarlo Stanton since April 25 due to a right calf strain, and All-Star left fielder Cody Bellinger has been sidelined since July 26 with a left hamstring strain. To spark the lineup, they brought in first baseman Luis García Jr. and outfielder Heliot Ramos before Monday’s trade deadline.
Judge felt “great being on the field, great being back out there,” and that it “felt like a little bit of a player.” The Yankees desperately need him, but until he’s actually swinging a bat again, those “great steps forward” are just that: steps. What’s next for the Bombers is their series finale against the Cardinals. They’ll be hoping Judge’s recovery speeds up, because their lineup desperately needs that bat.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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