The Yankees are getting their captain back at a critical moment.
Aaron Judge, sidelined for more than three months by a right rib stress fracture, is set to return to the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night in The Bronx against the Rockies, the team announced Monday night. His comeback arrives after a race against the regular-season calendar to get healthy in time for the stretch run.
The back-to-back AL MVP returns to a Yankees team still chasing the Rays, sitting four games out in the division with 19 games remaining. New York also holds just a 2 1/2-game cushion over the Red Sox for the top American League wild-card spot, though the club managed to stay afloat without Judge, going 45-39 during his absence while navigating a wave of additional injuries.
“Best player in the world,” manager Aaron Boone said over the weekend. “I think it would give us a lot of balance, too, to give us that right-handed hitter. On the days we’re facing a righty, where we got all our lefties, to have a right-handed hitter in that two-three hole, I think goes a long way. Not only potentially having his production back in there, but hopefully putting the other guys in a better spot, too.”
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Judge pushed successfully to avoid a rehab assignment before being activated, though the Yankees could still bring him along carefully over the next few days as he completes the final stages of his buildup.
That could mean a day off after his first game, playing five to seven innings in the field and/or DH days involved. He was expected to face live pitching on Monday at Yankee Stadium for the first time in his ramp-up, after going with the Yankees on their West Coast trip and hitting batting practice on the field and high-velocity pitching machines indoors.