Potential Aaron Judge Return Plans Are Worth the Risk for Yankees' World Series Hopes

Sometimes you have to swing big to win big.

The Yankees need to play Aaron Judge in the outfield to optimize their roster. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Right now, the New York Yankees have a Luis García Jr. problem. Not in the sense that he's bad. García has probably been the best trade acquisition from the deadline—and this is a team that has been criticized for not addressing their primary needs back on Aug. 3.

García has been great, and they'll need him to keep swinging his bat the way he has if they're going to make it back to a World Series, but if the Yankees bring Aaron Judge back and he becomes the designated hitter out of caution, their best hitter of late will be without a place in their lineup.

So far, García has played first base, but if Judge is the designated hitter, that job will go to Ben Rice. There's an option to play García over Jazz Chisholm Jr., but the Yankees were reluctant to bring in Luis Arraez at the deadline, so there's a chance that they won't put García in over him at second. Especially knowing that García wasn't a great second baseman.

The best shot the Yankees have at getting García into the lineup is to put Judge in the outfield. It's a precarious position for their captain, and it's likely that, with his rib injury, they want him off his feet as much as possible, but it's just a matter of what they value more. Keeping Judge healthy or having García's bat in there.

Most of the time, if Stanton got hurt, it happened while he was running the bases. That was the case this year. In fact, he and Judge got hurt in that same Astros series, but instead of diving for a ball, Stanton's injury was from gingerly going from second to third. There's no way to fully protect a player if they're banged up, and Judge could just as easily find himself hurt by sliding to second or home.

Even if the Yankees want to be cautious after Giancarlo Stanton's situation, it's in their best interest to let Aaron Judge play. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Instead of just having Judge be a sequel to Stanton, they need to look to their roster development as opposed to putting the kid gloves on one of their best players. Plus, it's not like Judge has been a stiff out there. He has always been one of the better defensive right fielders in the sport and is constantly snubbed in Gold Glove considerations.

Luis Garcia Jr. is too good to leave out under any circumstance

Negating García's bat from the lineup would be a big loss. Since joining the Yankees, he has been better than advertised. He's hitting .289/.337/.539 with a 142 wRC+. He has five homers and 11 RBI.

García has also been tough to strike out, and that was the case with the Nationals as well. He has an 18.1% strikeout rate.

Not to mention that García has been a solid first baseman with the Yankees. He has plus-1 outs above average at the position, according to Baseball Savant, whereas Ben Rice has a minus-6 OAA. Even in Washington, García was better. He was a negative defender, but García started with a minus-1 OAA there.

Getting García in the lineup isn't the only thing they should be thinking about. Playing first base is another way to get the most efficient use of their roster in this final stretch run and then the postseason.

This, of course, would all require the Yankees to put Judge back in the outfield. Right now, it's just a choice between being cautious and giving them their best chance to win. Judge might just have to avoid diving, which is what compromised him in the first place.

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