SAN DIEGO — The Yankees captain spent Saturday afternoon at Petco Park looking less like a player on the injured list and more like someone preparing for a game.
Aaron Judge took on-field batting practice for a second straight day, ran the bases again and continued his outfield work while the club moved closer to a decision that has been three months in the making.
Hours later, the Yankees beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 behind five innings of one-run ball from Carlos Rodón and a four-inning scoreless bullpen finish. Robbie Ray took the loss. The result pushed New York to 81-61, four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East and in control of the American League’s top wild-card position.
Judge has not played since May 31. MLB’s official injury report lists his injured-list placement as June 5, retroactive to June 2, because of a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list July 18. The same report says a return during the homestand that begins Sept. 8 remains possible.
The physical checklist is nearly complete. Judge has progressed from tee work to overhand batting practice, velocity work, running the bases, throwing and tracking balls in right field. The one major baseball test still missing is live pitching, which the Yankees are working to arrange Monday at Yankee Stadium.
Judge has indicated he wants at least a couple of live looks before activation.
The timing leaves the Yankees with a different problem than the one they faced in June. The question is no longer simply when Judge’s rib will allow him to play. It is how to restore game endurance after an absence that has covered most of the summer without wasting the few regular-season games New York has left.
Boone says Judge has reached the physical finish line
Aaron Boone described the remaining challenge as volume. Judge can swing, run and defend, but the Yankees still need to approximate the rhythm of a full major league game after weeks without the stop-and-start demands of nine innings.
Boone made that distinction clear while discussing where Judge stands in the buildup.
“[Judge] does not want to go on a rehabilitation assignment but he’s missed more than three months and he’s coming back as the right fielder, so the question becomes, how do you build him back up at the Major League level?” according to Ken Rosenthal.
“Talking to Aaron Boone, he doesn’t sound inclined to play him three innings one night, five innings the next, he wants to play Judge as much as he can and maybe give him a day off the game after he plays. So it’s going to be really interesting to see how the Yankees handle this but all signs point to him coming back this week in the series at home against the Colorado Rockies.”
Judge has again expressed a preference to skip a traditional Minor League rehab assignment. No final activation date has been announced, and the Yankees still want to see how he responds to live pitching. But Boone is now openly considering a different way to finish the process.
“He’s physically to the finish line where he needs to be, but it’s just about doing it a lot because that’s ultimately what you’re trying to replicate is being out there for nine innings,” Boone said.
Yankees could complete the buildup in major league games
Instead of sending Judge to Double-A Somerset or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees could activate him and manage his workload inside their own lineup. That could mean built-in rest or removing him before the end of games while his endurance catches up to his health. Judge himself ruled out a rehab in the minors.
Boone laid out the possibilities while explaining how flexible the Yankees are willing to be if Judge bypasses the Minors.
“Maybe it’s playing a game, having an off day. Maybe it is playing 5, 6, 7 innings in a game and get him out. Those things are on the table.”
That would be an unconventional return for a player the Yankees normally expect to occupy right field for nine innings and anchor the middle of the lineup. It also reflects the calendar. New York cannot recreate a long spring-style progression without burning a meaningful portion of September.
An 83-game absence leaves a 19-game runway
The scale of the layoff sharpens the decision. Through Saturday, the Yankees had played 142 games while Judge remained at 59 appearances. Because he last played May 31, he had missed 83 consecutive Yankees games, or about 58% of the club’s games to that point.
New York entered Sunday with 20 games remaining. If Judge were activated for the Sept. 8 opener against Colorado, the Yankees would have 19 regular-season games left. That leaves little room to separate rehabilitation from competition, especially with the Yankees still chasing Tampa Bay and trying to secure postseason positioning.
Judge would also be returning as an impact bat rather than a player searching for a role. MLB statistics list him at .248 with a .375 on-base percentage, .533 slugging percentage and .908 OPS in 59 games. He has 17 home runs and 38 RBIs despite not taking a major league plate appearance since May.
The Yankees have survived the extended absence, but replacing that production has required the lineup to redistribute responsibility. A healthy Judge immediately changes how Boone can stack the order. The challenge is making sure the Yankees do not ask his body for nine-inning volume before it has been rebuilt.
Live pitching becomes the final gate
Monday’s planned live session now carries outsized importance. The Yankees have not named the pitcher or pitchers Judge will face. Clarke Schmidt, who is working through his own rehab program, has been discussed externally as a possible option, but Boone has not confirmed the matchup.
Judge’s response to that work should help determine whether the Rockies series becomes realistic or whether the Yankees wait longer into the homestand, which continues against the Mets beginning Sept. 11. There is no announced requirement that he complete a Minor League game before activation.
The Yankees close their West Coast trip Sunday against San Diego, with Gerrit Cole scheduled to face former Yankee Michael King. Then comes an off day, Monday’s planned live pitching and the decision the club has been building toward since Judge disappeared from the lineup in late May.
For the Yankees, the final phase may not look like rehab at all. If Judge clears the live-pitching test, the last step could happen under major league lights, with Boone controlling his innings until the captain can handle the full workload again.
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