Yankees Rumors: Aaron Judge Not 'Holding Anything Back' After Rib Injury

As Major League Baseball inches closer to a return, so too does New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.

Judge, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture to his ribs and subsequently shut down during spring training, has reportedly made significant progress in his rehab, and there's a chance he may be ready for Opening Day 2.0 in late July.

Erik Boland of Newsday spoke with an unnamed source who recently saw Judge hit off a tee at the club's Florida facilities and reports he hasn't been holding back in his workouts. 

The Yankees have been careful not to set a timeframe for Judge's return given the nature of the injury, but the extra months off due to the pandemic have allowed him to focus on the individual steps in his rehab, and the signs continue to look positive.

"We've had some multiple reimaging that shows the healing, and we'll continue that process that will hopefully continue to show that expected healing moving forward," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on a video call in mid-May, per ESPN's Marly Rivera. "Once we resume play, we're excited and believe that he's going to rejoin us at full capacity. Fortunately for him, he's been able to take advantage of this COVID experience, but he wants to play as much as anybody, and we look forward to getting him back in the lineup."

Players are set to begin a second preseason training period July 1 with MLB looking at either July 23 or July 24 for Opening Day. 

The Yankees are expected to contend for the World Series this year, but they'll need Judge to do so. As the biggest bat in New York's lineup, he helps change how pitchers have to approach his teammates and covers plenty of ground in the field as well.

In 2019, Judge slashed .272/.381/.540 with 27 home runs and 55 RBI in 102 games—the fewest he's played since he appeared in 27 games in 2016 ahead of his rookie campaign due to an oblique strain that kept him out from late April to mid-June.