{"id":341257,"date":"2026-09-09T00:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T00:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/341257\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T00:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T00:30:09","slug":"aaron-judge-is-asymptomatic-but-yankees-plan-to-build-him-up-smartly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/341257\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Judge is ‘asymptomatic,’ but Yankees plan to build him up ‘smartly’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Judge is back<\/a> \u2014 but not built up all the way.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Yankees<\/a> plan to exercise caution with the slugger, who returned to their lineup<\/a> \u2014 playing right field, batting third \u2014 on Tuesday after missing the previous 84 games with a broken rib.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t play the whole game today, even though he wants to,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said ahead of Tuesday night\u2019s series opener against the Colorado Rockies in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be mindful of that, especially this first week. He\u2019ll probably have one of the days in this series off. We\u2019ll adjust each night, in what we see, but want to build him up smartly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yankees activated Judge from the 60-day injured list on Monday night, hours after a comprehensive workout at Yankee Stadium in which he faced live pitching for the first time since his injury and simulated multiple innings on defense.<\/p>\n

Judge skipped a minor-league rehab assignment, opting instead to optimize his at-bats in the majors as the Yankees try to catch the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays over the season\u2019s final 19 games.<\/p>\n

But Boone said he thinks Judge has \u201cdone everything, and maybe even more, to be ready\u201d to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s asymptomatic,\u201d Boone said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we had to get to, and that\u2019s where he\u2019s been the last several weeks now, where he\u2019s really able to start ramping up his body with strength and running, all those things. He\u2019s \u2014 from what he\u2019s told me over the last few weeks \u2014 not feeling anything, doesn\u2019t feel any restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge, 34, has traced the stress fracture in his right first rib to a dive he made in right field on April 26. The three-time American League MVP played through the injury for several weeks, but Tuesday marked his first appearance since May 31.<\/p>\n

Asked if he expects to sprinkle in some designated-hitter days for Judge, Boone said \u201cnot necessarily\u201d but that \u201cyou never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like him to be cautious with [diving on defense], and he will,\u201d Boone said. \u201cEven though he probably got hurt doing something like that, if you really watch over the last several years, he\u2019s done a good job of learning how to reign it in and not do certain things in certain situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is aware of those things \u2014 probably even more hyper-aware of it now. Watching him move out there, I feel like he\u2019s moving really well, so I expect him to play very well out there, albeit avoiding certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Yankees were 36-23 (.610) before losing Judge, who entered Tuesday hitting .248 with 17 home runs, 38 RBI and a .907 OPS.<\/p>\n

They averaged 4.1 runs per game and a .681 OPS without Judge \u2014 down considerably from the 5.2 runs per game and .770 OPS they recorded before his absence.<\/p>\n

Still, the Yankees managed to go 45-39 (.536) without Judge, whose powerful right-handed bat should bring balance to an otherwise lefty-heavy lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hung in there. We\u2019ve had stretches where it\u2019s been a real struggle for us offensively this year. I feel like we\u2019ve started to really get better over the last couple of weeks in that area,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou add him, and not only it\u2019s him and what he brings offensively, but there is an effect around him, in netting better opportunities and better at-bats for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

CRUZ CONTINUES<\/p>\n

Fernando Cruz will try to return this season after being diagnosed with a partial tear in the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow.<\/p>\n

The right-handed reliever said he received medical clearance to attempt to pitch through the injury \u2014 rather than undergo surgery \u2014 and that he received a cortisone shot in his elbow.<\/p>\n

Cruz expects to resume throwing by the end of this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be horrible if I don\u2019t come back and try to help this team accomplish what we want,\u201d Cruz, 36, said Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my goal to come back and do what is best. But being really, really, really honest \u2014 because I don\u2019t want to play the hero here \u2014 if I want to come back, I want to come back at 100% and help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz is 4-6 with a 3.13 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 54.2 innings.<\/p>\n

GOOD WEATHERS<\/p>\n

Ryan Weathers played catch Tuesday \u2014 his third time doing so since Saturday \u2014 and said he is experiencing \u201cno issues\u201d as he works his way back from a left forearm flexor strain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The left-hander expects to play catch again on Wednesday and Thursday, then take Friday off. After that, he could throw from the mound during his next three-day throwing period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling really good right now,\u201d Weathers said Tuesday, \u201cso just keep stacking good, healthy days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weathers has been out since Aug. 22, when he left early from a start due to what he later described as a low-grade strain.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old boasts a 3.60 ERA in 25 starts this season, but due to the Yankees\u2019 rotation depth and limited time to build up, the hard-throwing Weathers could return in a relief role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Judge is back \u2014 but not built up all the way. That\u2019s why the Yankees plan to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[35539,10094,128,72295,20,9,24,63,46142,129,131,130,16301],"class_list":["post-341257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-aaron-boone","tag-aaron-judge","tag-bronx","tag-fernando-cruz","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-ryan-weathers","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-yankees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}