NewzNEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Monday night by the New York Yankees. The three-time MVP hasn’t played since May 31 because of a broken right rib. New York was off Monday and is scheduled to open a three-game series at home Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies.
Judge traveled with the Yankees on their recent trip to the West Coast. He took batting practice on the field multiple times last weekend in San Diego and ran the bases as he worked toward his return. The slugger will rejoin New York’s active roster without going on a minor league rehab assignment first.
Throughout his absence, Judge said he wouldn’t need a stint in the minors to get ready. “If I tell them I’m ready to go play, I think we’re ready to go play,” Judge said on Aug. I can get my reps down here in the cage.
I’m sitting there in the dugout watching every game, feeling the environment, feeling the energy, so I don’t think there’s going to be much of a difference.” With 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Yankees (81-62) are four games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East. They are two games ahead of rival Boston (80-65) for the top American League wild card and hold a potential tiebreaker between the teams after winning the season series. The higher seed plays at home throughout every best-of-three Wild Card Series.
New York was 36-23 after Judge last played on May 31 and went 45-39 in the 84 games he missed since. But the offense has certainly been affected. The Yankees batted .243 with 86 homers in 59 games through May 31 but hit only .227 with 107 homers in 84 games while Judge was out.
Their batting average during that stretch ranked 29th among the 30 major league teams, ahead of only Seattle (.225). New York had a .770 OPS through May 31 but it was .681 in his absence. Judge is hitting .248 with 17 homers and 38 RBIs.
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