The New York Yankees’ largest reinforcement of all is officially back in their ranks, as Aaron Judge was activated off the 10-day injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Texas Rangers.
New York’s slugging superstar had missed 10 games after straining the right flexor in his right elbow, and is hightailing it back into action only as a designated hitter, as playing right field could potentially aggravate the injury further by throwing.
Without their star for that limited stretch, the Yankees were just as bad as they’ve been over the last two months. They went 4-6 and batted just .231 with a paltry .399 slugging percentage.
Judge leads the majors with a .342 batting average, .449 on-base percentage, and 1.160 OPS to go with 37 home runs and 85 RBI.
“It’s Aaron Judge,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We know what he means to our lineup, to the guys in the room. So to get him back, we’re certainly excited about that, and then hopefully, shortly thereafter, he’s back out in the field, too.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the team was hoping that he could participate in a catch for the first time before the middle game of its series against the Rangers, which began with an extra-inning 8-5 loss in which new reliever Jake Bird allowed a three-run, walk-off home run to Josh Jung. He was subsequently optioned to Triple-A.
While Judge’s return is an obvious boost, it does not necessarily mean that the Yankees are going to return to winning ways — mainly because they were playing like the defending American League champions when he was in the lineup.
Entering Tuesday night’s action, the Yankees’ 18-28 record is one of the worst in baseball over the last 46 games. General manager Brian Cashman did bring on some added offensive support while Judge was shelved, though, in the form of the versatile Amed Rosario and third baseman Ryan McMahon at the trade deadline.
Perhaps a full-strength lineup will find some more success.
