Yankees manager believes Aaron Judge could possibly join team for the Orioles series: "Everything’s in play"
On Wednesday, Aaron Judge will play another practice game against Jonathan Loaisiga, who is recovering from his Sunday matchup with Judge in The Bronx. The Yankees will decide on Judge's future moves after that as he continues his recovery from injury.
Judge won't be sent on a rehab assignment before being reinstated off the disabled list, according to the Yankees, who entered Tuesday with a record of 18-22 since Judge last played.
Judge may just keep getting at-bats and trying himself out in practice games at the Yankees' facilities until both parties agree he is prepared to rejoin the club:
“I think everything’s in play,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So far, it seems like today was another positive day. We’ll see how it goes [Wednesday]. I think we’re leaving everything on the table.”
When asked if Judge may be ready for the series against the Baltimore Orioles that will start on Friday, Boone said that he would not rule anything out and emphasized that the Yankees were monitoring the issue on a day-to-day basis.
Did Boone earlier hint at the possible return of Aaron Judge?
Being candid about the team's struggles, Boone said:
“It’s no secret we’ve been struggling. To come home and regroup and get a series sweep … we still got a long way to go. We feel like we have a chance to be a really good team. We’re incomplete without question, but we do feel like there’s some things on the horizon that are going to fortify us.”
All eyes were on Aaron Judge as he participated in live batting practice for the first time since rupturing a ligament in his right big toe in early June.
Judge swung at six of the 16 pitches he saw from Loaisiga, who was also recuperating, fouling off five and missing one. Most importantly, he didn't appear to be favoring his toe.