Aaron Judge is back, and with no margin for error

After exactly 100 days away, Aaron Judge is back in the New York Yankees lineup.

New York activated their captain and three-time MVP from the 60-day injured list on Monday night. Judge has been out since May 31 with a stress fracture in his first right rib. He recently resumed baseball activities and faced live batting practice at Yankee Stadium on Monday morning.

He also returns at a critical juncture ahead of the playoffs. Just under three weeks remain in the regular season and the Yankees trail the rival Tampa Bay Rays by four games. Not an insurmountable deficit, but one all the more difficult now since the Yankees’ offense always struggles without Judge, this year being no exception.

Which is why starting this evening, especially with the lowly last-place Colorado Rockies and their MLB worst 5.47 pitching staff ERA visiting the Bronx? Aaron Judge has literally zero margin for error.

Forget that he didn’t look like himself before his injury, batting only .248 despite a 150 wRC+ and 17 home runs. Judge’s absence so negatively affected the Yankees that he really has no choice but to put the team on his back the rest of the way. Bad enough that these Yankees are prone to midsummer slumps anyway, but without Judge?

Not exactly ideal.

Granted, that isn’t to say the Yankees fighting for first place again is entirely Judge’s fault, even if one believes he might have been keeping himself out longer. Cody Bellinger hit .228 in June and did not hit a single home run in July before missing a month with a strained hamstring. Giancarlo Stanton’s glass legs reared their ugly heads again and have kept him out with a calf strain since April.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells have both underachieved along with last year’s breakout Trent Grisham. Worse yet, Ben Rice is batting just .222 since the Break without Judge protecting him in the lineup.

Now, the captain is back. Confident enough in himself that he’s forgoing the traditional minor league rehab assignment. Ready to pick up his bat, get in the box, and make that final push.

And, like we said before, Aaron Judge has no room for slumping or mistakes after a three-month absence. The Yankees’ schedule is too soft for them to not dominate the competition at least a little bit.

Three games at home with the last-place Rockies. Then comes the Bronx leg of the Subway Series against the also last-place Mets. Then the final road trip, three games each in Minnesota and Arizona. One team treading water, desperately grabbing and fighting other teams for that last Wild Card spot. The other clinging to a Wild Card with the San Diego Padres nipping at their heels.

Then, the most important series of the season thus far: four games with the Rays in the Bronx. The regular season then wraps up when Baltimore visits for the weekend.

But those four games are the headliner. They could very well decide the AL East if it isn’t already by that point. Especially considering the Rays have a harder schedule the rest of the way.

Tampa Bay visits Atlanta this week before hosting the Astros for the weekend. That’s two opponents who currently lead their respective divisions. The Athletics provide a brief reprieve before Boston visits the Trop for the final homestand. Followed by the aforementioned four games in the Bronx and then a weekend with Philly.

Two division leaders. One non-playoff team. Three consecutive Wild Card teams, one of which can vulture the division easier than we think.

That is, the Yankees can take the division if Aaron Judge returns and actually produces.

We’ve already established that neither Judge nor the Yankees have any margin for error. The Yankees don’t need him in full MVP form, but they do need him to look better than a .248 hitter.