When will Aaron Judge return to the New York Yankees lineup? It's a question that's been asked for a while now, and even manager Aaron Boone hasn't had the answer, that is until Monday. While speaking with YES Network during Monday's spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Boone said Judge will return to the lineup on Wednesday, via Talkin' Yanks.
“Good,” Boone said of Judge's progress, as the Yankees star is battling an abdominal issue. “Another good day today. He hit velocity yesterday inside. I know he's working on the breaking ball machine today. So he came through today, good to go. He should be in there coming out of the off day on Wednesday. He's good, ready to go.”
Judge was already expected to return for Opening Day. But he was also expected to return to game action on Saturday, something that did not come to fruition. According to the latest update from the Yankees manager, though, Judge is “ready to go” and will return on “Wednesday.”
Aaron Judge set for injury return
Judge's MRI results came back clean and there seemingly has not been any real reasons for concern. Sure, the fact that Judge didn't play on Saturday caught fans' attention.
It needs to be remembered that MLB features a long 162-game season. The Yankees don't have any reason to rush Judge back at the moment. Opening Day is still 10 days away from the date of this story's writing, so playing it smart isn't a bad idea with a superstar who was limited to 106 games in 2023 due to injury.
New York expects to compete again in 2024 after missing the playoffs in 2023. Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young winner, will miss the first one-two months of the season with an elbow concern. The team is hopeful that he will return by June, though.
Other Yankees players such as DJ LeMahieu are also battling injury trouble ahead of Opening Day. Injuries negatively impacted the ball club in 2023 as well. If the Yankees can find a way to get and remain healthy, they should be able to compete.
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