SAN DIEGO — The Yankees have spent much of the summer learning how quickly a postseason plan can change when the injured list keeps moving underneath it.
Now the team is trying to settle an October roster while several important pieces remain unavailable. Aaron Judge has not played since May 31 because of a stress fracture in his first right rib. Fernando Cruz has been sidelined since Aug. 26 with a partial tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament. Ryan Weathers is out with a flexor strain. With the postseason race tightening, the Yankees entered the weekend needing more than encouraging workouts. They needed a timetable.
Judge gets close, but the calendar offers no favors
The first meaningful answer arrived before Friday’s game. Judge took batting practice on a major league field for the first time since May 31. He also ran the bases, took fly balls in right field and made throws.
Judge has advanced to overhand batting practice and high-velocity machine work. Aaron Boone has said a return during the Yankees’ next homestand, beginning Sept. 8 against Colorado at Yankee Stadium, is possible. No activation date has been set.
The long layoff has tested Judge’s patience.
“I’m mad how long it has taken,” Judge said. “It is what it is. I wish it was real two months ago, but we’re at this point [now]. We’re getting close. I can’t wait to be back out there.”
One major hurdle remains. Judge has not faced live pitching and said he needs at least a couple of sessions before returning to the lineup. Boone said the Yankees have not decided whether that work will include a minor league rehab assignment.
Judge would rather stay with the big league club.
“I don’t see a point,” Judge said. “Why waste at-bats?”
Judge’s missed time turns comeback into a 19-game sprint
The Yankees’ calendar makes the final steps unusually important.
Judge has appeared in 59 of the Yankees’ 141 games through Friday, or 41.8% of the schedule. MLB’s official statistics list him at .248 with a .375 on-base percentage, 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .908 OPS.
If Judge returns Sept. 8, he would have 19 regular-season games left to rebuild game rhythm before October. A return for the Mets series beginning Sept. 11 would leave 16.
The Yankees are not only trying to clear their captain medically. They need enough baseball volume to move him from a three-month absence into a postseason race.
Judge said nearly every baseball-specific part of the progression is underway.
“We’re hitting all the baseball stuff,” Judge said. “Throwing to bases, throwing, running the bases. Hitting, getting on the field, moving around. I think [we need to] face some live pitching and then I’ll get back out there.”
Cruz avoids surgery for now, but bullpen wait continues
The Yankees also received a better turn with Cruz, whose elbow issue appeared capable of ending his season a week ago.
After a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, Cruz is not scheduled for surgery at this point, Boone said Friday. Surgery remains an option, but the Yankees hope the 36-year-old can begin throwing within days and see how his elbow responds.
That is a significant change from Aug. 27, when an MRI revealed the partial UCL tear and season-ending surgery was on the table. Cruz still must begin a throwing program without a setback.
MLB’s official statistics show Cruz went 4-6 with a 3.13 ERA, two saves and 67 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings over 61 appearances. That equals roughly 11 strikeouts per nine innings, swing-and-miss production the Yankees bullpen has been missing.
Avoiding surgery keeps open a path back. The throwing program will determine whether it is a usable one.
Grisham and Weathers add to the Yankees’ injury math
Weathers is expected to begin a throwing program this weekend as he returns from a flexor strain. MLB lists him at 5-8 with a 3.60 ERA, 143 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP over 137 1/3 innings in 25 starts.
Grisham is awaiting imaging on his right hamstring. The Yankees had not announced an injured-list move after Friday’s game. He has hit .211 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs in 121 games.
The Yankees reached Saturday with four rehabilitation clocks. Judge is approaching live pitching. Cruz has avoided surgery for now. Weathers is preparing to throw. Grisham is waiting for a diagnosis.
For a Yankees club four games back in the AL East and trying to protect the league’s top wild-card spot, the next few days should show which reinforcements can reach the roster before the postseason race runs out of room.
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