SAN DIEGO — The details are not set in stone yet, but Aaron Judge is expected to face live pitching on Monday at Yankee Stadium. It will be his first time doing so since going on the injured list with a stress fracture in his first right rib on June 5.
“We’re working on something,” Aaron Boone said of the plan before the Yankees beat the Padres, 5-1, on Saturday. The manager added that a pitcher has not been determined for the session, which will take place on an off day for the Bombers.
On Friday, Judge said that he will need to face live pitching “a couple times at least before I get back in a game.” He has already faced velocity off various pitching machines, including the Yankees’ Trajekt machine, and he took on-field batting practice for the first time since his injury on Friday at Petco Park.
On Saturday, Boone said that Judge is physically at the “finish line” multiple times. The manager previously said that “it’s possible” Judge is back for the Yankees’ upcoming homestand against the Rockies (Sept. 8-10) and Mets (Sept. 11-13), so it’s a matter of intensifying his workload now.
“He’s just ramping up a lot of the volume,” Boone said. “He’s physically to the finish line where he needs to be, but it’s about just doing it a lot because that’s ultimately what you’re trying to replicate, is being out there for nine innings where you’re playing for three hours and you sit down, get up, those kinds of things.”
A rehab assignment would be a way for Judge to replicate that, but the captain has repeatedly said that he does not want to “waste” at-bats in minor league games. Judge reiterated that on Friday, stating, “I don’t see a point.”
An organizational source said Friday that the Yankees are still “working through” whether Judge should play in minor league games before being activated. Meanwhile, Boone said Saturday that the club is open to putting Judge on a non-traditional build-up plan.
“Maybe it’s playing a game and having an off day,” Boone said. “Maybe it’s playing five, six, seven innings in a right kind of game and getting him out, so those things are on the table.”
Boone added that he expects Judge will “do a good job of protecting himself” on defense, and that the right fielder is already “selective” about when to dive and put his body on the line.
With Judge expected back soon, the Yankees placed a different outfielder on the injured list on Saturday and recalled another. That would be Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez, respectively.
Grisham suffered a right hamstring strain in Friday’s loss. The same hammy sent the center fielder to the injured list earlier this season. Grisham, slumping at the plate and declining on defense, was awaiting tests at the time of Boone’s pregame scrum with reporters on Saturday, so the severity of his injury still isn’t clear. Neither is his timeline with just a few weeks left in the regular season.
With Grisham out, Spencer Jones is expected to get the majority of the playing time in center. The San Diego area native got the start there on Saturday and went 2-for-4 with an RBI double that put the Yankees on the board.
Had Grisham not gotten hurt, the optionable-but-thriving Jones could have been a candidate for the impending corresponding roster move for Judge. Cutting veteran utilityman Amed Rosario would have been another option.
Now, as things stand, the Yankees can send Domínguez back to Triple-A when Judge is ready to come off the IL.