Yankees' Aaron Judge Reinstated From Injured List

New YORK — Aaron Judge is back.

The Yankees' superstar right fielder was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Wednesday afternoon, returning to New York's active roster for the first time in three weeks.

New York optioned utilityman Thairo Estrada to the alternate site on Tuesday night to make room on the active roster.

#Yankees announce that Aaron Judge has been reinstated off the 10-day injured list #AllRise
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 16, 2020

"Just seeing him walk in today, checking in with him, seeing how everything went yesterday, writing him back in the lineup is big," Yankees' manager Aaron Boone said. "Hopefully we'll get through today and start building these guys up and getting a lot closer to being whole."

Judge began his second stint on the IL this season on Aug. 28 after aggravating the muscle in his right calf that he had strained earlier in the campaign. Two days prior, in his return after two weeks on the sidelines, the slugger was removed from a game in Atlanta after tightening up while running to second base.

Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman went on to call Judge's recovery process—after his initial injury—a "failed rehab," expecting the 28-year-old would need to miss double the amount of time he did his during first stretch on the IL.

Prior to getting hurt, Judge had played in the Yankees' first 17 games and was off to the best start in a single season in his career. The right fielder had mashed nine home runs, driven in 20 runs, was hitting .290 (18-for-62) and had an OPS of 1.101.

At one point, he was leading all of Major League Baseball in home runs. Despite the early success between the lines, Judge revealed that he didn't even feel locked in yet.

Last week, Yankees' manager Aaron Boone had said there was a "good chance" both Judge and fellow hobbled slugger Giancarlo Stanton would be ready to come off the IL before this coming weekend. Stanton was reinstated from the IL on Tuesday while Judge needed just one additional day of at-bats at the club's alternate site.

The plan moving forward—for both Judge and Stanton—is to slowly ease the sluggers back into playing everyday. Boone explained that after Judge plays on Wednesday night, starting in right field, he'll get a day off on Thursday before playing a couple games over the weekend in Boston.

Eventually the two big boppers will be in the lineup day in and day out. The conservative approach for the time being has to do directly with their unique rehab experience, playing in simulated games at the alternate site.

"I believe they're healthy so I'm excited about that," Boone said. "Part of the reason we're going lightly is because they didn't really have a big rehab process as far going down and playing in a number of games. They went and got at-bats for a couple days."

The alternative was for Judge/Stanton to stay at the alternate site for another three or four days for them to continue building up playing in sim games.

This way, even if they are on and off these first few days, they're building up with the big-league club getting MLB reps.
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 16, 2020

In Judge's absence, New York has experienced its fair share of highs and lows. The Bombers appeared to hit rock bottom last week, losing 15 of 20 games and dropping five contests in a row while much of the club's starting lineup was either on the injured list or slumping.

Since then, however, the Yankees have turned their season around. Judge rejoins a team that's riding a six-game winning streak entering play on Wednesday and is coming off a 20-run onslaught against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

READ: Yankees' Luke Voit Crushes Two Home Runs, Takes Major League Lead With 18

With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Yankees sit in second place in the American League East with a 27-21 record. With their roster healthier than it has been in over a month, Judge and the Yankees will look to continue climbing in the AL postseason race before the regular season's finale in under two weeks.

Asked about the excitement in the Yankees' clubhouse with the return of Stanton and Gio Urshela on Tuesday, and Judge on the way behind them, Gerrit Cole could barely contain his excitement.

"I came in, checked in with the trainers today, heard the moves and I was pumped," Cole said on Tuesday. "I feel like everyone is feeling the same way."

To keep up with all of Inside The Pinstripes’ coverage, click the "follow" button at the top right-hand corner of this page.

For more from Max Goodman, follow him on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. Follow ITP on Twitter @SI_Yankees and Facebook @SIYankees