Aaron Judge makes cameo return in Yankees’ romp

Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge was activated from the disabled list on Friday and played the final two innings of Friday night’s 11-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

NEW YORK — The loudest roar on a night at Yankee Stadium that there was a whole night to cheer about came when the Yankees took the field for the eighth inning of their 11-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Just off the disabled list, No. 99 jogged out of the Yankees dugout to right field to play a little defense.

Judge activated from DL, but limited | What it means

Some of the crowd was slow to notice, but the cheers picked up quickly and soon Judge was receiving a standing ovation on his return from a broken wrist.

“I took a second to kind of enjoy that and just to take a peek into how much (fans) appreciate him and just the kind of guy he is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s good to see everyone get behind him. You could feel the buzz there.”

Judge heard it and felt 

“Pretty crazy,” Judge said. “We’ve got the best fans in the world. It was great to hear that from them and hear their support. … They turn Yankee Stadium alive.

“It’s amazing what those fans do. We saw what they did in the playoffs last year, so I’m excited to be back out there with them and get ready for these last couple games before the playoffs.”

Judge didn’t get any action and he didn’t get at -bat, which was planned, but his two innings in right was progress.

“For him to get out on the field and get a couple innings on defense just to get a look, I was holding my breath just to do it, but just to see him get out on the field was a nice step forward for him,” Boone said. “Any time you put your star player into a game like that just to get some reps, you just want to any (risky scenario)

“But you also understand it’s important to get out there because he’s not necessarily going to play in games (for a little while longer), so if we can knock off a little rust with a base-running situation or to get out on the field for a couple innings, I think there’s value in it. But you still kind of hold your breath on it.”

Activated from the DL earlier Friday, Judge isn’t ready to hit in a game yet because he needs to shake off a lot of rust, but he’s finally completely healthy after suffering a chip fracture in his right wrist on a hit by pitch on July 26.

The Yankees expected Judge to be sidelined just three weeks, but his wrist took a lot longer than expected to heal and he wound up on the DL for 50 days.

Before Friday’s game, Boone made a surprising announcement at the start of his pre-game interview that Judge had been activated from the DL.

Judge just resumed hitting last weekend in Seattle, and after a week of BP and no pain in his wrist, the Yankees opted to activate the face of the franchise, who went on the DL with a .285 average, 26 homers and 61 RBI in 99 games.

Before the end of this last Yankees’ homestand of the season – they’re home through next weekend – Judge has a shot to be back in the lineup as a full-time player.

“It’s kind of what they trainers say, and once I clear all the checkpoints I’ll be able to get back out there and start swinging again,” Judge said.

Judge can’t wait, but two innings of right field Friday night was progress.

“Oh big time,” he said. “Any time you can get back on the field … I was nervous just standing in the outfield. I didn’t even catch any balls. Just getting those jitters out of the way now, it’s good. And once I get that first at-bat, I’ll be like I never left.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.