Judge gets back in swing, expects to be in lineup Saturday
Aaron Judge worked out on the field at Yankee Stadium Wednesday before the Bombers took on the Rays. He is hoping to be activated off the injured list on Saturday, the first day he is eligible, when the Yankees are at Citi Field for the first Subway Series of the season.
“You might have seen him out there already, with early hitting again today and throwing so he’s doing well and kind of on that trajectory,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, before adding that Saturday is not a firm commitment. “But again, that’s something we’ll continue to evaluate day by day as we get closer to Saturday.”
Judge suffered a right calf strain playing at Tropicana Field and was placed on the IL Friday. The Yankees slugger fought the assignment to the IL, feeling he could push through the calf issue, but Boone and the front office felt it was better to rest him now rather than have him risk further injury.
DJ EXPECTS QUCK RETURN
DJ LeMahieu, who is on the injured list with a sprained thumb, was out on the field Wednesday, but the Yankees’ injured second baseman is no closer to returning. LeMahieu was doing cardio and “movement” work, but he is still weeks away from being able to use his hands.
“I mean it’s pretty sore,”
LeMahieu said before Wednesday’s game against the Rays at the Stadium, “… I think this is the third or fourth day, a lot better now. And hopefully keep progressing. We haven’t really talked about swings yet. I moved around out in the field a little today. Just trying to keep doing as much as I can.
“The couple different doctors said two to three weeks so, obviously, I am hoping to push that but probably around that timeline.”
LeMahieu, however, is optimistic that once he is cleared to come back, it will be a quick ramp up and return to normal. He went through a similar thumb injury, which included a slight fracture, back in 2018.
“I’m hoping to get back a little quicker [this time],” he said.
The sprain happened on a
swing Saturday night against the Red Sox.
“It’s weird. I don’t even know what I did,” LeMahieu said. “Just a weird freak thing.”
LeMahieu was one of the few Yankees regulars who did not need a trip to the IL last season, when 30 Yankees did. He was one of the players that helped anchor a team that won 103 games and the division with so many key players missing.
And that is why LeMahieu is so annoyed right now.
“It’s frustrating too because [Aaron] Judge and [Giancarlo Stanton] are out and kind of bad timing,” LeMahieu said. “Just frustrating because I pride myself on being out there every day ready to go and when you can’t it sucks. It’s a bad feeling not to be able to be out there.”