NEW YORK – Aaron Judge reached a significant milestone as he works to rejoin the Yankees lineup. The three-time American League MVP has been cleared to participate in light activities, including outdoor running and upper-body resistance training.
Judge worked out on the field at Yankee Stadium prior to Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals. He underwent his latest round of scans on Tuesday that displayed enough healing to advance his training, according to manager Aaron Boone.
“I’ll be back this season,” Judge said. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t be. That was always the plan, to come back sooner than later, definitely. I never had a thought of not playing this year.”
“It’s an important part of his progression to get back with us,” Boone said. “It’s good to see him with his pinstripes on and cleats, heading out onto the field in the afternoon, certainly.”
Judge has not appeared in a Major League game since May 31 due to a fractured right rib, which he traces to a diving outfield attempt on April 26 in Houston.
He was placed on the 10-day injured list June 5 (retroactive to June 2), and later transferred to the 60-day injured list. Judge said he has not received a target date for his return.
“I just got the scan [Tuesday] and the minute they said we’re going to start running, I said, ‘All right, I’ll see you outside,’” Judge said. “I kind of forced them on that one. Hopefully whenever we get a game plan, you guys will be somewhere on the list and we’ll let you guys know.”
The Yankees have said they expect Judge to return this season; considering he has yet to begin baseball activities and has not swung a bat since May 31, sometime in September now appears to be the most likely scenario.
“It’s more symptom-based now as he starts to introduce things,” Boone said. “So the running outside is new, and some of the upper-body resistance stuff he’ll be able to do. Then as he tolerates that, we’ll start moving into baseball activities at some point.”
The Yankees had said Judge would need to be asymptomatic before being re-imaged; that does not yet appear to be the case, based on Judge’s comments on Wednesday.
“I’ve got a broken rib, so you’re going to feel it,” Judge said. “But it’s healing up. That’s the progress we want to see. So we can start doing some more, kind of testing and see where we’re at. You’re running out of days. We’ve got 52 days left, 53 days left. We’ve got to get back out there.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said this week that he continues to be “very optimistic” about Judge’s return, while cautioning that the rehab process offers no guarantees.
“It's a pretty high likelihood and optimism that he fits that timeframe for him to get back and join us," Cashman said on Monday. "And that's what I'm hoping and holding on to, and I know that's what he believes, and I know that's what the doctors believe. But it's always a moving target, too.”
The Yankees also saw a positive development on the injury front with another of their All-Stars: outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, who took on-field batting practice early on Wednesday.
It was Bellinger’s first time doing so since sustaining a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on July 26, though he said he has been hitting indoors. Bellinger is expected to miss four to six weeks from the time of the injury, and said he is hopeful his absence will be toward the shorter end.
“Hitting is no problem,” Bellinger said. “Running in a straight line, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m obviously not at full speed, and then [Wednesday] was more agility, side-to-side. I feel pretty good. Nothing is at full speed yet, but every day is feeling better, for sure.”