ST. PETERSBURG -- Dressed in workout gear, Aaron Judge turned a corner at Tropicana Field on Friday afternoon, acknowledging his arriving Yankees teammates. The captain’s workday was already hours deep, and the slogan imprinted across his T-shirt said plenty: “No time like October.”
Judge has made his position clear -- he wants to be part of everything that transpires this month. However, Judge’s strained right calf has not healed enough for him to claim a spot on the 26-man roster for the Yankees' showdown against the Rays in the American League Division Series.
Judge is eligible to be added to the roster for a potential AL Championship Series, should the Yankees advance.
“I just feel like he’s not quite ready to do it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He wanted to be on. He was willing to do anything. I just felt like for us to win a World Series -- and I understand, there’s no guarantees. We could be home in a week.
“But for us to potentially have a version of Aaron back, I feel like he needs this week to continue to hit, continue to ramp up the running and moving. It was very close for me.”
Judge was not active for the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox, still recovering from a moderate strain of the soleus muscle in his right calf that he sustained on Sept. 16. Typically, that sort of injury requires at least three weeks for a full recovery.
The three-time AL MVP was doing everything that he could to beat that timeline.
“Saturday is a long ways away,” Judge said after the Game 2 victory over Boston. “I’m doing everything I can -- all morning, night, during the game, everything -- to prepare myself to be ready to go. Yeah, I want to be in there. But we’ll see what happens.”
Having received a platelet-poor plasma (PPP) injection in late September, Judge had four plate appearances in live BP at Yankee Stadium on Monday, then traveled to the home of the Double-A Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater, N.J., to take additional at-bats on Wednesday.
Judge did more hitting on Thursday in New York, then participated in an early workout on Friday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
The Yankees have been cautious with Judge’s running progression, fearful of aggravating the strain. After several days on an anti-gravity treadmill, he progressed to running in right field before Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
Boone said the team discussed a scenario where it could have carried Judge as a pinch-hitter for the two ALDS games at Tropicana Field, then prepared him to play in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.
Ultimately, Boone said the team determined Judge would benefit more from using that time for rehab and recovery.
“If we kept him on in the pinch-hitting role, I feel like that would have stripped away the ability to have some really good days and be in a better position five, seven, nine days from now,” Boone said.
Judge, 34, missed 84 games earlier this season with a fractured right rib before returning on Sept. 8. He played seven games before straining his calf on Sept. 16 at Target Field against the Twins.
Overall, Judge slashed .241/.360/.511 with 18 home runs and an .871 OPS in 66 regular-season games.
Giancarlo Stanton, who missed most of the season due to several calf injuries but was active for the Wild Card Series, is active for the ALDS. Stanton said the biggest challenge in returning to action after a lengthy layoff is adjusting to velocity.
“You see as much velocity as you can,” Stanton said. “Just try to visualize stuff out there and be ready for the moment.”
The Yankees carried 10 pitchers and 16 position players for the Wild Card round; they opted for an 11-man pitching staff in the ALDS, adding left-hander Ryan Weathers and leaving off infielder/outfielder Amed Rosario.
With several other DH options already on board, including Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt, Judge’s return would have complicated that rotation. It’s also unlikely that the Yankees could have carried both Judge and Stanton, given their limitations.
Rookie outfielder Spencer Jones said Judge’s presence can still be felt, even while inactive.
"It would be a blessing to have Aaron," Jones said. "But at the same time, there's games ahead that we've got to win, with or without him. I think we're set up in a good position to win with the guys we've got."