Aaron Judge returns to Yankees lineup after long stint on injured list
Yankees' Aaron Judge takes the field for a game against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The wait was long, and when it finally ended on Tuesday night with Aaron Judge announced to bat, the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium rose to its feet to cheer him. But it didn’t stop there.
Fans remained on their feet for all five pitches of his first turn in the batter’s box in more than three months. Judge fouled off a pair of pitches before swinging through strike three from Colorado righty Gabriel Hughes. Some in the crowd even showered the Yankees captain with applause on his walk back to the dugout.
“It reminded me a little bit of ’22 and going for [home run No.] 62,” Judge said after the Yankees’ 5-3 win, a victory that assured them of finishing with a winning record for the 34th straight season. “They were all on their feet . . . A standing ‘O’ going up there was great. That’s why they’re the best fans in the world. So it was just trying to put a show on for them and come out with a win.”
Maybe it was too much to expect a show after spending 99 days on the injured list with a fractured rib on his right side. Judge finished 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. He did send a charge through the ballpark when he made solid contact in the fourth inning, though that went for a flyout.
“Just missed it,” Judge said. “You’ve just got to get the timing back. But I wish it would have would have fell or been in the gap or done something. It’s the first swings I’ve taken in a live game since May, so we’ve got some work to do.”
The Yankees activated Judge on Monday night without sending him on a minor league rehab assignment. Manager Aaron Boone said the plan is to bring him along gradually.
True to that, Boone removed him with Heliot Ramos in right field for the top of the seventh inning. Judge was not pleased, but Ramos ended up with the game’s biggest hit, a three-run home run in the eighth to make it 5-1.
Starter Cam Schlittler (13-6) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, didn’t issue a walk and struck out 10.
Boone said it is unlikely that Judge will start all three games in the series, though he didn’t indicate which game he will be out of the starting lineup. He should expect Judge to fight him on it after the slugger said “I played half a game . . . I respect [Boone], so whatever he says I’m going to do. But you know, not happy about it.”
Asked before first pitch about the decision to return him to the big league club without the minor league rehab assignment, Boone said: “I’m going to treat it like he won’t play the whole game today, even though he wants to. I’m going to be mindful of that, especially this first week . . . We want to build him up smartly.”
Judge finally faced live pitching — the last hurdle to returning — on Monday at the Stadium. He also did defensive work in the outfield. Afterward, Judge pushed to be activated, but the final decision wasn’t made until there was input from GM Brian Cashman and a check-in with principal owner Hal Steinbrenner.
Judge last played on May 31. At the time, they were 13 games over .500 and averaging 5.2 runs per game. The team has gone 45-39 without him and averaged only 4.1 runs.
“He’s the best hitter in the world — it’s a big guy to take out of your lineup,” Boone said when asked to compare the difference in the Yankees’ offensive performance. “It’s hard to quantify exactly, but you take the best hitter in the world out of out of your lineup [and] that’s pretty significant.”
When centerfielder Trent Grisham got injured during the weekend series in San Diego, Judge appeared in Boone’s office in the visiting clubhouse perhaps looking to replace Grisham on the active roster, but the club wanted to see more boxes checked off in his rehabilitation.
Judge returned to the lineup with a .907 OPS, 17 home runs and 38 RBIs in the team’s first 59 games.
Asked if Judge, who first felt the injury after attempting a diving catch in Houston on April 26, has been instructed not to dive for balls, Boone said, “I’d like him to be cautious with that stuff, and he will.”
The main goal is for Judge to back in top form in time for the postseason. He wants to get there a lot faster and help the Yankees make a run at the Rays for the AL East division title.
“I hope I’m up to speed tomorrow,” Judge said. “We’ll see.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
More Yankees headlines
