Aaron Judge Set to Rejoin Yankees from IL After Elbow Injury, Aaron Boone Says
Looking for any spark they can get amid a four game losing streak, the New York Yankees are going to get Aaron Judge back from the injured list on Tuesday.
Following the Yankees' 8-5 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday night, manager Aaron Boone told reporters the reigning American League MVP will be activated off the injured list as soon as he is eligible.
"Judge tomorrow," the Yankees skipper said when asked about his superstar slugger's return.
Judge has been out of action since July 25 before being placed on the 10-day IL due to a flexor strain in his right elbow, but surgery wasn't a concern as there was no major structural damage.
The injury originally occurred against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 22 when Judge attempted to throw out Davis Schneider at home plate. He was able to play the next two games, but said when he landed on the IL that throwing was a problem.
"I wasn’t able to throw the last couple of days. I wanted to take the off-day and see how it went," Judge said. "I was pretty adamant about playing [Friday]. It just came down to a point where if I need to make a play for the team, I’m going to do it. I got [the elbow] checked out, got the news, and we go from there."
Boone has said that Judge will exclusively play at DH initially and he will "hopefully" be able to play in the outfield at some point again this season.
The Yankees were already struggling before Judge suffered the injury, but this weekend has seen the heat around them intensify dramatically. They were swept in a three-game series by the Miami Marlins, including blowing a 6-0 lead in the opener on Friday.
Monday night against the Rangers saw Devin Williams blow his second straight save opportunity, then Josh Jung walked it off for Texas with a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th.
New York's 18-28 record since June 13 is the second-worst in the AL, ahead of only the Minnesota Twins (16-28).
After leading the AL East by as many as seven games in late May, the Yankees are now 5.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the division race. They are tied with the Seattle Mariners for the final two wild card spots in the AL.
Judge leads MLB in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.711). He ranks second in the AL in homers (37) and RBI (85).
