The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Judge, Chapman both getting closer to returning
Aaron Judge is one step closer to being ready to hit in a game —or make that 11 steps closer.
The Yankees slugger took 11 at-bats against live pitching in a simulated game Monday, the Yankees announced, making the possibility he could be back in a lineup before the end of Red Sox series all the more real.
Aroldis Chapman also threw in the simulated game, meaning he is also very close to being activated off the disabled list.
According to the Yankees, Judge took his 11 live at-bats off A.J. Cole, Chance Adams and minor-league lefty Phillip Diehl.
Chapman threw 22 pitches to Tyler Wade and Kyle Higashioka.
The Yankees announced that both came through the simulated game “without issues.”
Sunday, Aaron Boone said it was possible that Judge could be ready to hit in a game during the Red Sox series, a three-game series in the Bronx beginning Tuesday afternoon.
“I would say it’s a possibility. I don’t think we’re there yet, but I think that’s potentially in the timeline,” the Yankees manager said. “I wouldn’t say we’re there to make that call yet. I would say around that time he could be close. I would think by some point in this homestand, assuming everything progresses, he should be active.”
Boone thinks that through the process the Yankees have mapped out for him, Judge can still get 30 to 40 plate appearances before the end of the regular season.
After fracturing his wrist in a game July 26 when he was hit by a pitch, Judge was surprisingly activated off the disabled list on Friday. Boone clarified, however, that Judge would only be used as a defensive replacement or pinch runner as they continued to work through his rehab hitting progression. Judge played two innings of defense in Friday night’s game, getting a standing ovation for just running onto the field.
Chapman has been on the disabled list since Aug. 22 with tendinitis in his left knee. Boone said there is a possibility that all Chapman would need is one simulated game to be ready to get back into a game.