Aaron Judge is back.
That’s the headline every New York Yankees fan is appreciating on Tuesday morning. The captain has returned from his injury. He’ll be in the lineup at home against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
The Yankees have been without Judge for months, and now they get their slugging outfielder back just in time for the September stretch run.
New York has kept itself in solid playoff positioning even without Judge, but any real hopes they have of catching the Tampa Bay Rays to chase down the AL East title would certainly benefit from Judge deciding to go on a hot streak to close out the regular season.
As Judge returns, an interesting quote has circulated about when Judge wishes he had come back, and it is certainly in stark contrast to the reality of him returning on Tuesday night.
Aaron Judge Wished For A Different Return
This is what Judge recently told MLB.com:
“I wanted to be back June 1, but that didn’t happen. I’ll leave it up to the manager when he wants to put me in there.”
It’s important to note that the last time Judge played was May 31, so he’s essentially saying that he wanted to be right back in the lineup.
That looks almost silly at first glance, except when you realize that Judge wasn’t injured at the end of May. He was playing through the ailment to his ribcage.
Judge, at least in that quote, seems to be suggesting he didn’t mind playing through the injury. He almost certainly didn’t plan on missing three whole months of the season.
The Yankees went 45-39 without Judge in the lineup, although their offense ranked in the bottom-five in majors in runs scored in that stretch.
“We’ve had long stretches where the offense has struggled. I think a big part of that is not having your guy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com. “I also feel like that’s ticked up here in the past couple of weeks, where we’ve really started to play better offensively. We certainly look forward to getting our guy back.”
What Was Aaron Judge’s Injury?
Judge was out since the start of June due to a fracture to the first rib on his right side.
The 6-foot-7 outfielder was actually hurt about a month before that, though, on a diving play in the outfield.
His numbers did fall off from the first month of the season to the second, suggesting that playing through the injury wasn’t the easiest thing to do.
It makes sense that Judge didn’t want to miss time. He’s the captain. He’s the anchor of the Yankees’ lineup. He knows how important he is both in his production and in his presence for the rest of the Yankees.
Still, New York made the call to try and get Judge healthy, and it was a calculated risk. Since they stayed afloat without him, they now can benefit from a refreshed and recharged Judge in the most important games of the year.
Everyone, Judge maybe most of all, has to be absolutely thrilled that he’s back.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Reveals His Wished-For Injury Return Date