Erik Boland: Aaron Boone provides some clarity on Aaron Judge, kind of
Aaron Judge watches from the dugout at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Credit: Brad Penner
TORONTO — Only the CIA compares to Yankees manager Aaron Boone when it comes to general reticence to surrender information. That's especially true in Boone's case when the topic is Aaron Judge and his rehab from a rib stress fracture.
So it was noteworthy late Friday night when a Yankees fan account called Everything Yankees posted the following on X: “Tricia Whitaker just said on the Apple TV pregame that Aaron Judge played catch today and felt great.”
Whitaker, a reporter for Apple TV, replied to the post.
“Can confirm, via my convo with Aaron Boone,” she wrote, also on X. “Said he maybe needs a month to get back, but of course timeline is still unofficial.”
This was news of some significance. It was the first time that Judge, who has not played in a game since May 31 and has been on the injured list since June 5, had thrown a baseball.
It marked the start of true baseball activities for Judge, previously forbidden by medical personnel from engaging in upper-body work of any kind to keep the rib injury — slow to heal, as many rib fractures are — from being aggravated.
The one-month timeline was even bigger news as, up until Friday, neither Boone nor anyone else with the Yankees had offered a timeframe of any kind for a return for the three-time American League MVP.
All of which led to a somewhat remarkable back-and-forth with a group of reporters in the visiting team dugout before Saturday afternoon’s game against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Fans have been panting in recent weeks for updates regarding the Yankees’ captain. Surely, this session would provide some much-anticipated clarity instead of the steady dose of “ums,” “uhs” and “I-don’t-knows” that have typically followed inquiries about Judge (and, for that matter, Giancarlo Stanton) during the last two-plus months.
But Boone, asked some of the natural follow-up questions stemming from what he told Apple TV, went the verbal bob-and-weave route, acting as if he’d rather have watched Vic Carapazza call balls and strikes than discuss anything Judge-related.
Boone, visibly uncomfortable with the topic from the ''jump,'' as he likes to say, seemed taken aback that something he said to a reporter before a national broadcast actually might get, well, reported.
Here are some of the highlights from the Q&A, in which a couple of the exchanges brought to mind a frazzled Williams Jennings Bryan, while being cross-examined by famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow during the 1925 Scopes Trial, blurting out: “I do not think about things I don’t think about” and Darrow replying: “Do you think about the things you do think about?”
Reporter: “Aaron, it was reported on the Apple broadcast last night that Judge started throwing. Can you just give us a little bit more insight to that?”
Boone: “Yeah, he played catch yesterday. So just part of the ramp-up in the baseball activities.”
Reporter: “What do you expect him to do next?”
Boone: “Oh, I don’t, I don’t know. I know he threw and ran yesterday. So hopefully continue to progress through this week and see what else gets introduced.”
Reporter: “They had thrown out a timeline of a month. Does that align with what your understanding of it all is?”
Boone: “I don’t know. I mean, we expect him back, but we’re in the early stages of baseball activities, so hopefully things continue to go well.”
Reporter: “That was attributed to you saying a month, so is that not accurate?”
Boone: “Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I hope so.”
Reporter: “But did you say it?”
Boone: “Uh, it might have been. It could be. I don’t know. You know, if things progress well, that could be in play, yes.”
Reporter: “How did he respond to playing catch?”
Boone: “Good. Good. I talked to him yesterday. It was a good day.”
Reporter: “Is he doing that again today?”
Boone: “I don’t know exactly.”
Reporter: “Did he have to get reimaged to get cleared [to throw]?”
Boone: “No.”
Reporter: “You still anticipate him getting reimaged at some point?”
Boone: “Not necessarily. Maybe at the very end, but nothing on the schedule for now.”
Reporter: “That’s the first time he’s played catch during his rehab?”
Boone: “Yes. He’s been doing some plyos [weighted balls] the week getting ready for that.”
Reporter: “There’s a month and a half left this season, but you’re also up against the clock when it comes to Aaron getting back. Is he fully healthy or is this just the best of what we’ve got right now [so] let’s give it a shot?”
Boone: “I wouldn’t characterize it as that. There’s still healing to go, but he’s at the stage where he’s able to start ramping up. So yeah, I don’t know how to answer that.”
Anyway, one month and counting.
Maybe.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
