A big change is coming to the New York Yankees lineup on Tuesday, and his name is Aaron Judge. The star slugger has missed the past few games with a grade-1 calf strain, picked up at Tropicana Field against a strong Tampa Bay team.
Judge “begged” manager Aaron Boone and the training staff to keep him on the active roster, citing his mobility and quick recovery from the injury. It seemed to be only a slight tweak, yet the strength and conditioning staff took every precaution when it came to their best player.
Judge is ready to make his return to the lineup, and it comes at a perfect time, with the Yankees are set to face off against the Atlanta Braves in a two-game series and then take on the Mets over the weekend.
This will give Judge plenty of time to get into the groove again and experience plenty of at-bats before the Yankees host the Rays once again on August 31.
The Yankees are gaining back a hungry Judge:
“I felt like I could have been back out there after a couple of days,†Judge said on Sunday. “That’s why I was so adamant about not going on the IL to begin with. … I’m feeling great. I could run around, I could jump, I could swing a bat, I could throw. Everything that you need to do for a baseball game, I could do.â€
“If you’re swinging the bat well, doubleheaders are the best thing to a ballplayer,†Judge said. “I feel good in the box. I’m ready to go. Anytime you’re coming off the injury, I know they’re going to want to slow-play it a little bit, maybe mix in a DH one of those days. But I already talked to Boonie and told him I’m ready to go. Hopefully I’ll be in right field every single game.â€
Prior to Judge going down, he was hitting .290 with nine homers and 20 RBIs over 62 at-bats. He was having a stellar start to the abbreviated 2020 season, and this minor injury cost him a nice portion of momentum and disrupted his rhythm. Hopefully, he can pick up right where he left off and provide a much-needed boost to Yankee lineup that is suffering from the number of injuries having occurred.