New York Yankees outfielder and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge has begun hitting off a tee as he works his way back from a right big toe injury suffered crashing into the Dodger Stadium wall last month. Judge, who has a torn ligament in his toe, was previously limited to playing catch. Now he's ramping up his baseball activity.
"(Judge is doing) what he can tolerate physically," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the New York Post on Monday. Hitting coach Dillon Lawson added: "His swing looks great. It looks like he's not missing anything. He's able to turn on his back foot (with the injured toe) and it doesn't look like it's bothering him at all."
The Yankees have not announced a timetable for Judge's return, in part because it's an unusual injury. Just last week he said he still feels pain when he walks, and the real test will be running. Judge has not played since June 3. Fans voted him into the All-Star Game as a starter, though he will not play in the game.
"It's definitely a positive sign,'' Lawson told the New York Post about Judge's tee work. "His swing has looked exactly like it's looked like every time he swung last year and earlier this year. I know there are progressions that have to be made, but this part of the progression looks as good as we could ever hope for."
Since Judge's injury the Yankees have used six different players in right field: Jake Bauers, Oswaldo Cabrera, Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Billy McKinney, and Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees are 12-13 since Judge last played and are hitting .220/.289/.374 as a team during that time. They're averaging only 3.80 runs per game.
Judge, 31, is hitting .291/.404/.674 with 19 home runs in 49 games around the toe injury and a minor hip injury earlier this year. Despite missing so much time, he still ranks 15th among all outfielders with 2.4 WAR.
Monday's thrilling come-from-behind win over the Baltimore Orioles improved New York to 47-38. They are nine games back in the AL East and two games up on a wild-card spot.
