New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge continues to rehab his right wrist but has yet to make the progress he was hoping for.
It is now day No. 11 without Aaron Judge in the New York Yankees lineup and the conditions don’t look to be getting better any time soon.
On Sunday, reports confirmed that the Yankees’ slugger had yet to take dry swings. This was contrary to the estimated time given by Yankees’ physicians of when Aaron Judge was going to be able to pick up a bat.
Team doctors toyed with the idea he’d be able to begin swinging a bat off a tee in just a week following the injury, and that he’d be ready for game situations in just three weeks.
That now remains in jeopardy.
Judge mentioned to reporters that he is still experiencing pain in his right wrist in trying to swing a bat. However, he has been able to begin throwing a baseball, but it still remains in question when dry swings will be permitted.
“I know it’s still fractured. It’s not healed yet,” Aaron judge said via ESPN’s Coley Harvey. “[Trainers] just said, ‘Hey, every day, wake up and see how it feels. And once the pain goes away with certain movements, you can keep progressing.’ It’s kind of based on how I feel every day.”
It looks like until all of the pain subsides, Judge will continue his throwing program but will not come near a bat.
This season, Judge is hitting .285/.398/.548 with an OPS of .947. He is the heartbeat and driving force of this team with 26 homers and 61 RBI, both which have been missing from the lineup on a daily basis.
Since the start of 2017 the Yankees have a .459 SLG when Aaron Judge is in the starting lineup. A .340 SLG when he is not. They play .609 baseball with him. And have a .333 win % without him.
— Ryan Ruocco (@RyanRuocco) August 6, 2018
The #Yankees have lost 15 of 22 without @TheJudge44 in the starting lineup since the start of last year, averaging 4.0 runs per game (5.3 runs per game with him).
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) August 6, 2018
They can use him back, at the very least, as they have fallen nine games back in the A.L. East.
Although Judge is still in pain, he did mention that he’s definitely improving from where it was a week ago.
“Some of the range of motion is coming back,” Judge said. “Now it’s just getting the strength back that’s the biggest thing.”
While in Boston, Judge was able to take care of a lot of his rehab work in regards to his range-of-motion. He was also able to throw in the indoor batting cage from short distances in pregame workouts.
Aaron Boone and the Yankees hope that he will be able to start swinging a bat sometime during the three-game series in Chicago.
“Whether that’s tomorrow or the next day [when Judge is able to swing], they just want to make sure it’s a pain-free situation in that one movement.” Aaron Boone said through ESPN’s COley Harvey
For now, Aaron Judge is still in the early stages of his recovery but boy could the Yankees use his bat right now. Since he’s been hurt, the struggles of the starting nine have been at the forefront of almost every game.
Nevertheless, the New York Yankees will continue their inferior stretch against sub .500 opponents until Aaron Judge is back in the lineup.
