How Yankees’ Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge have progressed in injury rehabs

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge appear to be getting closer to their returns to the lineup as both recover from July injuries.

Gary Sanchez’s projected late-August or early-September return to the Yankees‘ lineup still appears on course.

The catcher ran on the field in Tampa on Sunday, and he progressed to catching drills and hitting in a cage on Monday, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone.

By all accounts, Boone said Sanchez’s recovery from his groin injury has gone as expected without any hiccups.

“Now that we’ve given to some baseball activities with some urgency, some earnest, I think we’ll start to get a better feel for (his return),” Boone said Monday. “But I think that’s a fair timeline and it looks very much like he’s on that trajectory to meet that.”

Sabathia to DL

Sanchez has been on the disabled list after aggravating a June groin injury that cost him nearly one month. Sanchez returned for three games, and in the third, Sanchez’s lack of hustle chasing a passed ball and running to first base cost the Yankees in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He went back on the DL the following day.

While Sanchez has a projected timeframe for a return, the Yankees are still waiting for a better idea on the availability of right fielder Aaron Judge. Judge has been on the DL since July 27 with fractured wrist after he was hit by a pitch on July 26.

Judge was projected to miss at least three weeks, but his return was predicated on how he would be able to swing a bat in a game situation. More than two weeks after the injury, Judge said the fracture still hadn’t healed.

Boone remained hopeful that Judge’s return to swinging would come soon. Judge did some underwater swinging on Sunday, and the team expected a better update on Judge’s progress after a doctor appointment on Monday.

“I’ll see what he has today as far as getting the bat,” Boone said. “I think we’re any day from getting the bat. I know he was getting some more test results today just to check on how it’s feeling and everything.”

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