NEW YORK -- In Aaron Judge’s ideal scenario, the Yankees captain will bypass a Minor League rehab assignment and jog out to right field sometime in September, penciled into the lineup for the first time since May 31.
There are several checkpoints to hit between now and then, and it remains to be seen if the three-time American League Most Valuable Player will indeed return to wearing pinstripes without suiting up for a farm club.
But Judge is feeling good enough that he believes it’s a realistic possibility.
“I feel great,” Judge said. “That’s one reason why we’re kind of speeding through this and really doing more outside, doing more in the cages. Things are feeling good and hopefully it’s progressed. Now it’s about volume, trying to get my volume back up since I haven’t played in quite a long time.”
Asked when he hopes to return, Judge replied: “Tomorrow, if I can -- but I don’t know if they’ll let me. Hopefully here soon.”
Recovering from a right rib fracture, Judge has yet to face high-velocity pitching, though his workload has been increasing -- from pool work to outdoor running in the early stages, then tee-and-toss drills, his first time swinging a bat since landing on the injured list.
He took overhand batting practice once earlier this week, taking about 15 swings indoors against assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes, according to manager Aaron Boone.
“I was just walking out to batting practice on the field and our pregame stuff,” Boone said. “I stopped and watched a half-dozen swings or so. I was like, ‘That’s Aaron Judge.’ It was encouraging.”
Judge, who said that he may hit overhand BP again on Thursday, has expressed his thoughts on avoiding a Minor League rehab assignment to Boone as well.
“He said that to me, too,” Boone said, with a smile. “If and when we get to that point, we’ll work through all that.”
That’s probably not what fans in Double-A Somerset or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre were hoping to hear, but it would be a development welcomed with open arms in the Bronx. Judge points out that it’s not an unprecedented idea.
“I didn’t rehab in ’23 when I missed probably the same amount of time,” Judge said. “Why waste at-bats? Why waste anything down in a Minor League game? I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I’ve got a sense of what I need to do on the field and how to manage it. Why waste some at-bats in Double-A or Triple-A?”
Judge said that he could build hitting volume with a mix of Trajekt, machine work and facing rehabbing pitchers, saying that regaining his timing should be “like riding a bike.” Judge also said that when he returns, he would expect to be in right field.
“I play outfield, so I’m hoping to come back [in the] outfield,” Judge said. “I’m not the manager. I don’t make the lineup. Hopefully I’m out there in the outfield somewhere.”
That tracks with what Boone said earlier this week, when the manager noted that the Yankees are already heavy with designated hitter options like Luis García Jr., Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice, so they’ll plan on playing Judge regularly in the outfield.
During pregame workouts, Judge has been throwing at distances up to 100 feet and shagging fly balls. Judge has traced the rib fracture to a diving attempt on April 26 in Houston, calling it “a fluke thing that happens,” and said that he can play under control when he returns to outfield play.
“I’m going to still try to go out there and make every play I can,” Judge said. “But you’ve 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.”