Judge, Stanton back by London? That's the plan

June 11th, 2019

NEW YORK -- and could both be back in the Yankees' lineup for the June 29-30 series against the Red Sox in London, general manager Brian Cashman said Monday on WFAN.

"We're not definitely trying to line things up so we have [Judge] for London, but it's certainly possible we could have him before London," Cashman said. "It's a moving target. He has to finish off another seven to nine days of field work before we can schedule a rehab assignment."

Sidelined since April 20 due to a significant left oblique strain, Judge hit off a high-velocity machine and performed arc runs on Monday in Tampa, Fla., according to manager Aaron Boone. Cashman said that he recently observed Judge's workouts while in Tampa to oversee last week's MLB Draft.

"I think he's progressing to the point where you are going to see him do full BP rounds on the field; we’ve gotten to that level now," Cashman said. "He started doing his cage work, then transferred onto the field. He’s doing all his agility and throwing and stuff like that.

"We could be targeting rehab games, clearly not this weekend, but maybe next weekend at the earliest if everything goes perfect."

Limited to just three games so far this season, Stanton is scheduled to begin a new Minor League rehabilitation assignment on Tuesday with Class A Advanced Tampa. Since March 31, Stanton has had issues with his left biceps, left shoulder and most recently a tight left calf.

Stanton is set to play two games with the Tarpons before tentatively joining Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the weekend. Stanton is set to serve as the designated hitter on Tuesday, then would play nine innings in right field on Wednesday.

Cashman said that Stanton could return to face the Rays (June 17-19) or the Astros (June 20-23).

"We’ll have to watch the weather to see how he reacts and adjust," Cashman said. "He could be back as early as the Tampa series or Houston series, but we’ll see."