BALTIMORE – No summer is complete without a refreshing dip. For Aaron Judge, it represents an important step toward getting back in the Yankees' lineup.
Judge has been performing “swing-related stuff in the pool” at Yankee Stadium over the last couple of days, according to manager Aaron Boone, who said Judge will be introduced to his hitting progression this week.
That’s significant, considering Judge has not swung a bat since May 31 due to a stress fracture in his right first rib.
“Hopefully it goes well,” Boone said on Tuesday. “The fact that he’s responded in this first week of added intensity as far as being allowed to do some things upper-body-wise – playing catch, running, it’s all part of his buildup.”
Judge believes he initially sustained the injury attempting a diving catch on April 26 at Houston. He played through discomfort for more than a month before landing on the injured list following a series against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., late in May.
Limited to lower-body and light resistance training for weeks, Judge played catch on Friday, his first time doing so since the injury. He was also cleared to participate in outdoor running and upper-body resistance training.
Speaking on Aug. 5 at Yankee Stadium, Judge indicated that he was not completely pain-free.
“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.”
A three-time American League Most Valuable Player, Judge was slashing .248/.375/.533 with 17 home runs and 38 RBIs in 59 games at the time of his assignment to the injured list.
Judge's absence has been felt by the Yankees' offense, which has largely sputtered without him. From June 1 entering Tuesday, the Yanks ranked 30th in batting average (.217), tied for 28th in OPS (.666) and 28th in runs scored (246) among the 30 Major League clubs.