Yankees

The Aaron Judge Update Yankees Fans Have Been Waiting For

By ••3 min read
The Aaron Judge Update Yankees Fans Have Been Waiting For

The Yankees have spent nearly three months trying to survive without Aaron Judge. Now, for the first time in a while, there is some legitimate movement toward getting their captain back in the middle of the lineup.

Manager Aaron Boone said Judge will begin his hitting progression this week as he continues recovering from the stress fracture in his right first rib.

Judge has already started doing swing-related work in the pool over the last couple of days, while also running and playing catch. He had his first throwing session on August 15.

No, this does not mean Judge is about to walk into Yankee Stadium tomorrow and start hitting bombs.

But it is another box checked.

The Yankees need this progression to keep moving.

Judge has not played since May 31. The injury originally occurred when he dove for a catch against Houston on April 26 — his 34th birthday — and Judge continued playing through the discomfort before the rib eventually became too much to manage.

He was later placed on the 60-day injured list, and the Yankees have been forced to build an offense around the massive hole left behind.

Before going down, Judge was hitting .248 with a .375 on-base percentage, .533 slugging percentage and .907 OPS through 59 games. He had 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and 43 runs scored.

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Those are very good numbers for almost anybody.

For Aaron Judge, they almost looked quiet.

His power had cooled considerably before the injury shutdown, including just one home run over his final 18 games, but even a Judge operating below his ridiculous standards was still one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.

The Yankees Have Felt His Absence

The difference with and without Judge has not been difficult to spot.

New York went 36-23 in the 59 games Judge played, a .610 winning percentage. Since losing him, the Yankees have hovered around .500 and enter this stretch at approximately 69-55, sitting second in the American League East behind Tampa Bay.

The pitching staff has done its job. The Yankees have carried one of the better ERAs in baseball and remained firmly in the postseason picture.

The offense is another story.

New York is hitting around .229 as a team with a .308 OBP and .408 slugging percentage. There have been stretches without Judge where scoring three runs has felt like asking for seven.

And this is the question Yankees fans have been asking for months: How long can the pitching keep covering for an offense missing its biggest weapon?

That becomes even harder when Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and other important bats are dealing with their own injuries or unavailable for stretches.

Aaron Judge #99 Getty Images

There Is Still No Return Date

Boone has not given Judge a firm timetable, and that is probably the correct approach considering the location of the injury.

Judge still has several hurdles ahead of him.

He needs to progress from controlled swings to full batting work, then eventually face game-speed pitching. After missing this much time, the Yankees also have to make sure his body can handle the workload without the rib becoming an issue again.

September remains a realistic target if everything continues moving in the right direction.

And if Judge can return with enough time to get his timing back before October, the Yankees suddenly have a completely different lineup.

You are not replacing Aaron Judge at the trade deadline. You are not finding another one on the bench. The biggest offensive addition the Yankees can make over the final weeks of the season is getting No. 99 back.

This week represents the next important step.

Now the Yankees need Judge to keep taking them.

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