BALTIMORE -- As David Hale stood at his locker in the visiting clubhouse on Tuesday evening, a wrestling-style championship belt hung off the back of his assigned chair, indicative of having been selected by the Yankees' players as that game's most valuable contributor.

Hale was chosen for those honors by virtue of having pitched four relief innings of one-run ball to log his first career save in the Yankees' 11-4 victory over the Orioles, but perhaps his reward should have been for the miles traveled to achieve that milestone.

The 31-year-old right-hander has been a vagabond for the last 13 or so months, having been designated for assignment four times last season -- three times by the Yankees, once by the Twins -- before completing the year wearing the uniform of the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization.

"It's been kind of a weird year," Hale said, with a laugh. "My wife [Megan] and I always say, 'You can cry about it or you can laugh about it.' We've gotten some pretty good stories out of it."

Hale made his Yankees debut last April 23, then was claimed on waivers by Minnesota, for whom he pitched once. A free agent after rejecting an outright assignment to the Minors, the Yankees pursued Hale again, and he'd appear again in the Majors to serve long-relief roles on May 11 (three innings vs. Oakland) and July 6 (5 2/3 innings at Toronto).

"I felt like I knew where I was," Hale said. "I knew I had an opportunity to get back up and down here. I'm comfortable with the players and the staff and everything, and it's the Yankees. They have that allure to them, they're a winning team with history. It just kept drawing me back."

After that appearance in Toronto, Hale was offered $500,000 to complete his season in Korea. With his wife expecting a child -- she gave birth to a boy, Calder, in January -- the couple decided to jump at the opportunity. Hale made 12 starts for Hanwha, going 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA against competition that he said was comparable to the Triple-A level.

"There were so many little things on the field that were different," Hale said. "The first thing you notice is that there are two [pitching] rubbers. There's one, then a half-inch dip, then another rubber you throw off. I guess there are no holes dug, which is kind of nice for relievers, but it's still kind of weird.

"Then the pitching coach pulls you out of the game. Thank God I saw someone else get pulled first. … [The crowds are] way louder. It's like soccer. Every hitter has their own jingle, everyone knows it and they stand up the entire time to sing the jingle. There's a head cheerleader. It's unbelievable. But the pitchers don't get a song."

Hale said that he leaned on a pair of American-born teammates, outfielder Jared Hoying and right-hander Keyvius Sampson, to navigate his unfamiliar new home city of Daejeon. Hoying is still with Hanwha, while Sampson has latched on in the San Francisco Giants organization.

"I have huge respect for the guys who come here and don't speak English as their first language. It's unreal," Hale said. "I can speak a little Spanish here and there -- at least you can read a word -- but there I had nothing. No clue. We had a good translator and he helped us out a lot, and [Hoying and Sampson] helped me figure out where to get dinner. That was a huge help."

In recess

Aaron Judge continues to patrol the playing field with a bat in his hand, at one point practicing his stance on Wednesday afternoon, but Boone has consistently declined to outline a timetable for the slugger's return. Boone was asked on Wednesday if he believes Judge will be back before the All-Star break.

"I don't even want to speculate on it yet until he's really full-go on baseball activities and swinging a bat and stuff," Boone said. "I would say, I think he's doing really well. It's improving how we'd have hoped. But speculating on a time frame, I don't want to do that."

Comeback trail

One day after sitting out in extended spring action due to dehydration, Didi Gregorius returned to action on Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., serving as the designated hitter and reporting no issues. Gregorius is expected to play shortstop on Thursday.

Top prospect Estevan Florial, who fractured his right wrist during Spring Training, has been cleared to resume playing in extended spring games.

This date in Yankees history

May 22, 1963: Mickey Mantle hit a game-winning, 11th-inning home run off the Athletics' Bill Fischer, striking the upper-deck frieze in right field at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won, 8-7.