Is it possible for New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge to return as soon as this weekend for a critical AL East series against the Baltimore Orioles? Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn't rule out the possibility, according to Chris Kirschner.

Judge played several innings in a simulated game down at the Yankees' complex in Tampa Tuesday afternoon. He took at-bats, ran the bases, and played defense. This was a big step for Judge, who last played on June 3rd.

“I think it's just day to day right now,” Aaron Boone said. “Like it's get through today and tomorrow. Hopefully we can ramp up and it's a couple more [innings.]”

“I don’t think he had any action in the field today. We’ll try and set up situations to make sure there’s action in play, or script some things a little bit more so that not only is he getting the volume of being out there for an hour or two hours, getting the live at-bats, but trying to replicate things that would come up in the game as much as we can.”

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If Judge returned for the Orioles series, he would skip the standard minor-league rehab assignment. That could be in the cards, as Judge already said he won't be pain free when he does return.

At this point, the Yankees are getting desperate. Through 100 games, they're last in the AL East. Last week, they reached that low point for the first time since 1990. However, they're only 2.5 games out of the third Wild Card spot.

The Yankees have had outfield struggles all year, and they need the reigning AL MVP back badly. The Orioles are starting to pull away with the division, but if Aaron Judge returns to help New York win the weekend series, it would be a huge step for the Yanks.