Yankees' Aaron Judge Feels '100 Percent'; Will Resume Baseball Activity on Monday
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge is already inching closer to his return.
The slugger revealed on Sunday afternoon, addressing the media for the first time since he was placed on the Injured List earlier in the week, that he feels 100 percent and is physically ready to return.
"I’ve been healthy and feeling great. This is the best I’ve felt in a while," Judge said. "I’m pretty frustrated being put on the IL when it’s just a couple day thing but working with the Yankees staff and talking to the doctors, it’s more precautionary and probably best overall to miss one week than push through it and eventually miss three-to-four weeks."
Yankees' manager Aaron Boone had said on Saturday that the club's right fielder could resume baseball activity as early as Monday, just three days after he was placed on the 10-Day Injured List.
"[This weekend] will be treatment and he'll do some lower body workouts in the weight room and some rehab stuff with the hopes of introducing baseball activities again on Monday," Boone said. "He's feeling pretty good and hoping this goes well and is a short amount of time."
Judge confirmed his plan is to begin taking swings again on Monday. Not only does he feel ready to resume baseball activity, he believes he's healthy enough to play in a game.
"I told them I’m good to go guys but if we must, I’ll take the weekend off from picking up a bat and then pick it up on Monday," he explained. "I’ve got some running and stuff to do today but the baseball throwing and hitting, we wanted to get through the hurdles of some movement stuff, some running stuff, before we pick up a bat again."
Judge was diagnosed with a mild right calf strain on Friday, joining fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the IL after roaring out of the gates offensively. Even after missing each of New York's last three games, Judge is still tied for the Major League lead in home runs with nine.
READ: Even After Aaron Judge's Scorching Hot Start, the Yankees' Star Doesn't Feel Locked In
The slugger reiterated what his manager had cited as the original source of his lower body tightness. Playing in four games, pounding on the turf at Tropicana Field in Tampa last weekend, tightened up his calves.
"I feel good, I feel 100 percent," he said. "That’s why I was trying to beg them to just give me a couple days and I would be ready tomorrow but it is what it is, they’re just looking out for me so it doesn’t get worse because calves may start mild but if you push them they may turn into a Grade 1 or Grade 2."
Judge was placed on the Injured List retroactive to Wednesday. That means this coming Saturday will be 10 days after his IL stint officially began.
When Judge was taken out of Wednesday night's game, moments after launching his ninth home run of the season, Boone had explained the decision to pull the star was a precautionary measure, a way to ensure Judge wasn't at risk to unintentionally turning his strain into something more severe.
The same logic went into the decision to place the superstar on the IL.
"This is something that in a couple of days he will be ready to push through but I also think when you’re talking about calves, when you’re talking about hamstrings, it’s a situation where you can tweak it more and all of a sudden, you’re looking at a four-to-six week situation," Boone said on Friday. "That’s really what we’re trying to avoid here."
After being plagued by injuries a year ago, New York has to worry about the health of a third indispensable contributor: DJ LeMahieu.
New York's second baseman suffered a sprain in his left thumb on Saturday night, coming out of the game early and heading to the hospital for further testing. LeMahieu was also placed on the IL on Sunday morning.
READ: Yankees Place DJ LeMahieu on Injured List With Left Thumb Sprain, Recall Miguel Andújar
Even the departure of LeMahieu—along with the absences of Judge and Stanton—couldn't stop New York's offense from exploding for a season-high 11 runs in a rout of the Red Sox.
To outfielder Clint Frazier, who went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBI, this group is capable of filling the void left behind by the Yankees' injured stars.
"We have a lot of adversity that keeps coming up and we have guys that keep filling roles that maybe you don't know if that role was even going to come about unless a couple things happened to get you there," Frazier said. "There's just a lot of people that are hungry to get that opportunity and whenever it happens it's going to be hard to take it from some of them because they're trying to take it and run."
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