NEW YORK — The Yankees reached the eve of October with a roster problem that mixes opportunity with risk.
Aaron Judge took live at-bats Monday. Giancarlo Stanton did the same, then added running work. Trent Grisham continued testing his right hamstring. Ryan Weathers faced hitters again while working back from a left forearm flexor strain.
The timing leaves Aaron Boone and the Yankees little room for experimentation. Their best-of-three Wild Card Series against the Red Sox begins Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. New York must decide not simply who can participate, but whose body can handle what October may demand.
Judge creates the hardest call. The captain has been out since Sept. 16 with a moderate strain of the soleus muscle in his right calf, only eight days after returning from a three-month absence caused by a right rib stress fracture. He has pushed to return. The Yankees, after watching one comeback end almost immediately, have reason to separate what Judge wants from what his rehab has actually cleared him to do.
Stanton clears a test Judge has not
That difference became sharper Monday.
Giancarlo Stanton, who has not played in a major league game since April 24 because of three calf strains, took five plate appearances and then ran in the outfield and on the bases. Judge took four plate appearances, drew two walks, struck out looking and hit a grounder back to the mound. He did not run outdoors or participate in defensive work.
Those signs leave Stanton expected to make the Wild Card roster while the Yankees remain positioned to take a more conservative path with Judge. The club had not formally announced its 26-man roster as of early Tuesday, but Stanton has completed a physical step Judge still has not.
Boone offered only a measured update on Judge before the workout.
“He’s making progress. We’ll continue to see where he’s at,” Boone said.
That is encouraging, but it is not clearance.
Judge’s bat looks closer than his legs
Judge’s live work showed that his swing is further along than his running progression.
He faced Elmer Rodríguez and Weathers during Monday’s session. The results mattered less than seeing live pitching without an obvious setback. Judge had already been hitting indoors and working on an anti-gravity treadmill.
The missing step is difficult to ignore. Judge has not run the bases since the injury and did not test the calf in the outfield Monday. That matters because he wants to return as a right fielder, not merely as a designated hitter or pinch hitter.
Judge made clear before the workout that he has been arguing his case.
“I’ve been doing a lot of convincing, I feel like, so I’m going to keep doing that,” Judge said. “We’re all going to be smart, but I think they all know I want to be out there, especially in the first game.”
The Yankees also have to consider roster construction. Stanton would likely be limited to pinch-hitting. Carrying Judge in a similar role would give Boone two players with limited defensive and running utility in a short series.
Boone declined to say whether a DH-only or pinch-hit role would make Judge easier to carry, saying the Yankees still needed input from the medical and training staffs. Judge also acknowledged that the final call is not his.
“I’m a part of zero plans,” Judge said. “They make the decisions. They kind of run this. So I voice my opinions. That might be 1 percent of what goes into the final say so.”
Four injured Yankees are on four different clocks
The comeback timelines help explain the Yankees’ approach.
Each player’s most recent major league appearance through Sept. 29, Stanton has gone 158 days without playing in an MLB game. Weathers has gone 38 days, Grisham 25 and Judge 13.
Those figures do not measure readiness, but they show how different these cases are.
Trent Grisham has been running and hitting and was described by Boone as “very much in play” for the Wild Card roster. If healthy enough, he gives the Yankees a true center fielder and late-game defensive option.
Weathers has faced hitters and recently reached 96 mph, but his roster path is less direct. The Yankees are considering carrying only 10 or 11 pitchers. With starters such as Carlos Rodón and Will Warren available in relief, New York can use an extra spot on a position player.
That could leave Weathers as a candidate for a later round even if his arm has responded well.
Yankees can buy Judge more recovery time
The postseason format gives the Yankees another reason not to force the issue.
If New York eliminates Boston, it can submit a new roster for the Division Series. Holding Judge out of the Wild Card round would buy several additional recovery days without ending his postseason.
Judge hit .241 with 18 home runs, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS in 66 regular-season games. His presence changes the Yankees lineup when he is healthy. But Monday’s workout showed the question is no longer whether he can swing.
It is whether the Yankees need to ask his calf to do everything else.
Stanton ran the bases. Grisham has progressed through running work. Weathers has returned to the mound. Judge, despite his most promising baseball activity since the strain, still has not cleared that test.
For a Yankees team beginning a potentially monthlong postseason Tuesday night, that difference may determine who faces Boston and who is asked to wait.
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