Aaron Judge’s Return Comes At a Crucial Time for the Yankees

Aaron Judge was activated from the injured list and is set to make his return to the Yankees lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Rockies.

Judge has missed 84 games this year, having not suited up since the end of May. Now, with just a few weeks left in the season, the superstar slugger is set to make his anticipated return, and can hopefully provide a bit of a spark for the Yankees as October inches closer.

The Yankees have stayed afloat in Judge’s absence, but it’s been abundantly clear just how much they’ve missed his presence in the lineup. New York has leaned largely on its pitching to help maintain its positioning in the AL East, but the return of Judge will rejuvenate a lineup that hasn’t produced at expected levels.

In the time Judge has been shelved, the Yankees’ offense hasn’t looked the same. In June, their first Judge-less month, they posted a .680 OPS collectively. That worsened in July when the team hit for just a .660 OPS. They fared marginally better in August, logging a .699 OPS, but they were still in the bottom half of the league in that category. Judge, who has had four consecutive seasons with an OPS above 1.000, should help the team get back on track at the plate in his return. In April and May, prior to Judge’s lengthy spell on the sidelines, the Yankees had a team OPS of .766 and .793, respectively. It’s clear how much of a difference-maker Judge is, not only via his counting stats, but the opportunities he creates for those batting around him.

It’s a critical time to get baseball’s best player back, too. At present, the Yankees are fending off a red-hot Red Sox team for the American League’s top wild-card spot, and are still within reach of usurping the top spot in the AL East from the Rays. New York sits four games behind Tampa and is two games ahead of Boston, which has won five in a row. There’s been no hotter team in MLB during the second half of the season than the Red Sox, who are 43–18 since the start of July.

The Yankees will be vying to win the division, which would grant them a first-round bye in the postseason. If they finish in second, behind the Rays but still in front of the Red Sox, they’ll be slated to face Boston in the wild-card round, a best-of-three series for which they’d have home-field advantage in all three games. Surrendering second place to the Red Sox would be a disaster, resulting in the team having to play at the hostile Fenway Park in the best-of-three showdown. That’s a scenario the Yankees would surely prefer to avoid.

In the Yankees’ final 19 games, they’ll have a six-game home-stand against the Rockies and Mets, followed by a six-game roadtrip against the Twins and Diamondbacks. They close the season out with a pivotal four-game set in the Bronx against the Rays, followed by a three-game series against the Orioles, also at Yankee Stadium. That’s not the most difficult schedule, and it’s one the team will need to capitalize on if they’re to truly challenge the Rays for the division title. That title race will likely be determined by what happens in the Bronx from Sept. 22 to 24.

Judge opted against going out on a rehab assignment ahead of his return to the Yankees. Rather than shaking off the rust in the minor leagues, he will get some important reps in during the stretch run of the regular season. Ensuring he’s at full strength and ready to roll in October will be pivotal, and he’ll have 19 games to iron out any kinks before the stakes get raised. His return will provide some much-needed stability to the Yankees’ outfield, which has been rotating players in and out in his absence. With Trent Grisham now on IL and potentially out for the season, and Jasson Dominguez back in the minor leagues, it’ll likely be Judge, Cody Bellinger and Spencer Jones drawing the bulk of action in the outfield, with Heliot Ramos filling in against left-handed pitching.

Ultimately, as it is every season, the goal for the Yankees will be to win a World Series title. Needless to say, Judge will have to play a critical role in that. Getting him back with three weeks left in the season will give him plenty of time to get back into a groove leading into the postseason, and can help New York as it looks to fend off the surging Red Sox and potentially even win the AL East outright.

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