The New York Yankees finally have star outfielder Aaron Judge back from injury, but he's being carefully deployed by Aaron Boone as he makes his return back from his toe injury to full strength.

New York's cautious approach with Judge, who sat out Sunday night's historically ugly loss to the Baltimore Orioles, has been met with criticism as the Yankees badly need to make up ground in the AL Wild Card standings.

Boone has defended his decision to rest Judge, as he recently told Bryan Hoch.

“Hopefully he can play this entire series, but we’re going to take it day by day,” Boone said. “We’re going nowhere if we run Aaron Judge into the ground because he hasn’t had a rehab game.”

It's been a frustrating season for Boone, Judge, and the Yankees as a team. Coming off last year's AL MVP performance, Judge has been able to appear in just 51 games due to a toe injury.

Article Continues Below
Related New York Yankees News
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) doubles in three runs in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.
Anthony Volpe gets brutally honest on Yankees’ recent successBenjamin Adducchio ·
New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with second baseman Oswald Peraza (91) after scoring a run on a single by third baseman DJ LeMahieu during the first inning at Target Field.
Aaron Judge gives struggling teammate vote of confidenceRussell Steinberg ·
New York Yankees injured designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton works out before a game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium.
Yankees’ Brian Cashman gives huge Giancarlo Stanton injury updateJoey Mistretta ·
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (22) interacts with New York Yankees second baseman Jorbit Vivas (90) during the first inning at Yankee Stadium.
MLB rumors: When Yankees were still ‘convinced’ about Juan Soto before Mets decisionPreston Byers ·
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge makes scary confession amid ridiculous startBenjamin Adducchio ·
New York Yankees first base Paul Goldschmidt (48) celebrates scoring a run with right fielder Aaron Judge (99) and left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) in the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Yankees rumors: What New York is ‘aggressively’ seeking on trade marketBenjamin Adducchio ·

Judge has been plenty productive when he's been able to take the field, hitting .298/.414/.685 on the season. His frequent absences, however, have been tough for Yankees fans to swallow.

Boone recently shut down the suggestion that Judge could play DH instead of only being available as a pinch hitter, as he explained to Bryan Hoch.

“Your premise there would suggest they're the same,” Aaron Boone said, via Hoch. “I would disagree with that. I think we would disagree with that. Getting ready to play a major league game right now and going through all your pregame to be prepared at 7:00, you would hope there's baserunning that follows that. While it's not playing right field, it is still playing. Again, we're talking about him not being 100% with the toe, but just as much as that, he just hasn't worked up a lot of volume of stuff.”

The Yankees begin a three-game series with Tampa Bay on Monday. Whether the Yankees will continue to be cautious with Aaron Judge during his return and give him rest days remains to be seen.