NEW YORK — Aaron Judge took another step forward in his recovery from a flexor strain in his right arm when he threw to bases at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the injury one month ago.
When Judge will be able to return to right field, however, remains a mystery. The reigning AL MVP redirected questions about his timeline to the club’s trainers, though they are not made available to the media for questions. Manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t know when Judge would return to the outfield.
“The bottom line is we want to do this the right way,” Boone said before the Yankees hosted the Boston Red Sox in Sunday’s series finale. “And as much as he wants to be out there and we want him out there, we’ve got to make sure we want to do everything possible to put ourselves in the best position to not reinjure this.”
Because of the injury, Judge has been the Yankees’ everyday designated hitter since coming off the injured list on Aug. 5. The circumstances have forced the Yankees to play Giancarlo Stanton in right field for the first time in nearly two years in order to have both sluggers’ bats in the lineup.
Stanton, 35, started in right field on Aug. 9, marking his first game at the position since September 2023. Hampered by leg injuries over the years, he does not move well, presents limitations in the field and doesn’t recover like he once did as an MVP outfielder. Earlier this month, for example, he didn’t start three straight games after starting three days in a row.
At the same time, Stanton has been one of the best hitters in the majors since the start of July, batting .317 with 16 home runs and a 1.134 OPS over his last 38 games entering Sunday.
“Got to be mindful of it,” Boone said. “He’s too important to us moving forward. We’re not at that point in the season where today starts or ends our season so we’ve got to, as much as we are at the home stretch and the back half of the calendar with the playoffs on the line, we still have to, within a little bit, play the long game. Especially considering, obviously, how important he is to the lineup.”
The situation has generated a difficult balancing act for the Yankees. While they want both sluggers in the middle of their batting order, rushing Judge back to the outfield could lead to a serious injury that potentially ends his season.
If and when Judge returns to the outfield, Boone said he did not know whether he would play the position every day or split time there with Stanton and others.
“I think that’s the name of the game right now, is just making sure I can, we can kind of push the volume, push the level of it and also make sure that I’m recovered enough to go out there and keep pushing the next day,” Judge said. “So our training staff does a great job with that, so they’re helping me try to get out there as fast as I can because I think they all know I want to be back out there.”
Judge equated the soreness he feels on days after he throws to how a person runs after returning from a pulled hamstring. He said he’s undergoing “quite a bit” of treatment, though he again referred to the training staff for details. He described not being able to play defense as “brutal.”
“I’m a ballplayer,” Judge said. “I want to play both sides of the ball and go out there, making plays on defense, helping my team out. I know hitting’s important and all that, but I feel like I can impact this team on both sides, so I can’t wait to get back out there.”
While Judge is batting just .218 with three home runs and an .804 OPS in 16 games since being activated — well short of his production before the injury — he insisted the elbow has not affected his hitting.
Regardless, Sunday represented progress. Judge threw baseballs from about 150 feet, a distance he recently reached in his throwing program. He acknowledged he wasn’t throwing at 100%, but insisted he felt good.
“It’s more about trying to make sure he’s in a position to continue to heal and not hurt himself,” Boone said. “Throwing isn’t the only part of his game that makes him really good out there. So I don’t know at what level [he’ll return to] when we initially get him back into a game. But we know we want to make sure he’s got every opportunity to be in a good position to, again, continue to heal as he goes, but also protect from injury too.”
