Yankees ‘eager' to get OF Judge back with return nearing

SAN DIEGO — The details are still murky. The timeline isn't clear. No one has said much with precision, not to the public, anyway. But as the Yankees spent the past week in Anaheim and San Diego, they didn't shy away from the expectation that Aaron Judge would be back soon. In Anaheim, Aaron Boone said 'it's possible' that Judge will return from a stress fracture in his first right rib on the Bombers' upcoming homestand against the Rockies (Sept. 8-10) and Mets (Sept. 11-13). And on Sunday, the skipper didn't rule out the possibility of Judge returning on Tuesday against Colorado, though the back-to-back MVP has said he'll have to face live pitching multiple times before being activated. Judge was expected to do that for the first time on Monday, an off day, at Yankee Stadium. 'I wanted to be back June 1, but that didn't happen,' Judge said in San Diego after taking on-field batting practice for the first time since his injury. 'So I'll leave it up to the manager when he wants to put me in there.' Judge also started to hit off velocity before the Yankees' road trip. The captain, who last played on May 31, has repeatedly said that he doesn't want to play in rehab games, as he doesn't want to 'waste' at-bats in the minor leagues with the second-place Yankees, as of Monday morning, four games back of the first-place Rays with 19 games left in the regular season. The Yankees haven't said for sure if Judge will get his wish, but Boone did say that the organization is open to putting the slugger on a non-traditional build-up plan. 'Maybe it's playing a game and having an off day,' Boone said. 'Maybe it's playing five, six, seven innings in a right kind of game and getting him out, so those things are on the table.' Whatever Judge's return looks like, and whenever it happens, the Yankees will be ecstatic. 'He's a great player, man,' Gerrit Cole said. 'So that would be really awesome, but I'm just looking forward to him coming back whenever the right time is for him.' 'I'm not exactly sure what the status is,' Ben Rice added, 'but we're all as eager to have him back now as we were right when he went out, so it would mean a lot to us.' Buoyed by a stellar starting rotation, the Yankees have held their own without Judge, going 45-39 since June 2, the first game of the superstar's absence. Their offense, however, has mostly struggled since then. Entering Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Padres, the Yankees had the second-worst wRC+ (90), the fourth-worst OPS (.681) and the sixth-fewest runs scored (338) over that span. Judge's injury has played a part in those poor numbers. IL stints for Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon have also overlapped with Judge's, and the Yanks haven't had Giancarlo Stanton since late April due to three calf strains. 'Certainly, we've had long stretches where the offense has struggled, and I think a big part of that is not having your guy,' Boone said, referring to Judge. 'But I also feel like that's ticked up here the last couple weeks, where we've really started to play better offensively, and we certainly look forward to getting our guy back.' Rice, who has emerged as one of the game's better hitters this season, agreed. 'It's been a while, but I think overall we've done a good job,' he said of the Yankees' performance sans Judge. 'I don't know what our record has been or this and that, but I feel like everyone's done a good job of just kind of staying within themselves and trying to focus on what they do well. Of course, the pitching has been outstanding for such a long time now, so we just gotta keep going.' Prior to going on the IL, Judge scuffled a bit as he played through his injury for several weeks. He's hitting .248 with a .907 OPS, 17 home runs and 38 RBI over 59 games this season. In addition to his timing, eyes will be on Judge's power and bat speed — his swing averaged 76.1 mph before going on the IL — once he's back, given the location of his injury. However, he recently said he hasn't talked to doctors about what he should expect in that regard, and he's confident that he'll be able to make an impact even if he's slightly off. 'I think we won't really see until we get out there in some games and stuff,' Judge said, 'but I'm not too worried about the power or bat speed because I feel like even if it's a tick off, it's still better than nothing.' The All-Star has a point with his return right around the corner.