Yankees give glorious injury update on Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks

The New York Yankees could gain back Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks for the regular season:

With the MLB and PA finally agreeing to a 60-game regular season, baseball is on the comeback trail. The New York Yankees will be favorites to land a playoff spot in such a short campaign, and they have several players returning from injury to aid the cause.

While Luis Severino will miss the remainder of the season, the expectation is that Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, and James Paxton will be ready to go in the coming weeks. The last update on Judge stated that he was having trouble returning to form, following a stress fracture in a rib suffered last September on a diving catch.

Since then, he has struggled to begin working out again, but reports have indicated he could be ready for a late July opening day. Judge still wasn’t swinging a bat in late May following spring training, but the good news is he hasn’t suffered any setbacks over the past few weeks of quarantine and rehabilitation.

“It’s been tough,’’ Thames said of Judge not being able to swing as he recovers from the fractured rib that sidelined him this spring and likely happened last September diving for a ball. “He really wants to get going. [We’re] just trying to stay safe. When the doctors let him, [we’ll] turn him loose. He’ll be ready. He’s chomping at the bit to get out there and start working hard on his swing.”

Hicks, on the other hand, is doing exceptionally well as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

“I would be ready to play,’’ Hicks told The New York Post a few days ago. “The plan was July to see where I am at and ready to play games. For me, I want to be back to the arm strength I had before.’’

“I am doing really well. I am up to 160 feet throwing, taking BP on the field and doing defensive work. I get better and better [throwing] every day and every week. The throwing gets stronger. It is definitely coming. It comes in its own ways when it wants to. I am not too far off. I will throw to bases coming up here pretty soon, think next week. My arm feels great.’’

Having both Judge and Hicks back in action would be excellent news for a Yankees team that desperately needs a healthy outfield. While players like Clint Frazier might suffer due to the return, a shortened season will give the Yankees a fantastic opportunity to walk away with a potential World Series trophy — the first in over a decade.