New York slugger Aaron Judge, who was released April 27 with a sprained right hip, is expected to return Tuesday for the Yankees’ game against the Oakland Athletics.
New York manager Aaron Boone made the comment Saturday before the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla., not far from the Yankees’ minor league complex in Tampa.
Judge practiced Friday and Saturday at the Tampa complex, hitting the batting cage and running. He also rocked flyballs during Yankees batting practice ahead of Friday’s game against the Rays.
“I think he’s doing really well,” Boone said. “I think we will be well placed on Tuesday, where he has done everything for days.
“That was the math for this weekend,” Boone added. “It’s like we want to push him back when he’s got 85, 90 per cent?
“I wasn’t comfortable with it just because I don’t want a species to turn into a bad situation that we’re talking about in six, eight weeks.”
Aaron Judge will return for the New York Yankees on Tuesday after suffering a hip sprain
Judge, the Yankees’ star hitter, has been injured since April 27 with the problem
Judge missed his eighth game on Saturday, with Tuesday his first day of eligibility to be off the injured list.
He injured his hip when he slid headfirst into third base on a stolen slot on April 26 at Minnesota, then played the following night at Texas before leaving the game early in pain at the hip.
The 2022 American League Most Valuable Player hit .261 with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 26 games. A career .283 batter, Judge broke the AL home run record with 62 dingers last season and also led the Majors in RBI (131), runs (133) and slugging percentage (.686).
The four-time All-Star signed a nine-year, $360 million deal to stay in New York after last season.
Boone also commented on the other Yankees players who were injured. Third baseman Josh Donaldson (right hamstring strain), released April 6, is training with Judge. Donaldson will step up his drills over the next week in anticipation of a possible minor league rehab assignment.
Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (sprained left hamstring), out since April 16, is progressing with no return schedule.
‘He is doing well.’ says Boonen. “I’m kind of encouraged by how his progress has been going pretty well.”
Right-hander Luis Severino (low-grade lat strain) is scheduled for at least three rehab starts for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre starting Wednesday. Left-hander Carlos Rodon, who like Severino hasn’t started this season, suffered a left forearm injury and now has back problems. He will have an injection on Tuesday.