Judge, Chapman have no issues in sim game
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The Yankees are off on Monday, but both Aaron Judge and Aroldis Chapman made strides toward their respective comebacks with simulated games at Yankee Stadium.
Judge, who was activated off the 10-day disabled list on Friday, took live at-bats against right-handers A.J. Cole and Chance Adams and Minor League lefty Phillip Diehl, and Chapman threw a 22-pitch session to Tyler Wade and Kyle Higashioka.
Both Judge and Chapman completed their workloads without issues, the Yankees announced.
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Monday's progression could be one of the final steps before Judge takes in-game at-bats, perhaps as soon as this week's series against the Red Sox, which starts on Tuesday. Judge, who was recovering from a fractured right wrist after being hit by a Jakob Junis pitch on July 26 and who is still experiencing pain in the area, played right field for the final two innings of Friday's 11-0 win over the Blue Jays, but did not bat. The club planned to have Judge complete a sim game before working his way back to in-game at-bats.
"I was nervous out there just standing in the outfield," said Judge, who is hitting .285/.398/.548 with 26 homers. "I didn't even catch any balls. Just getting those jitters out of the way now, it's good. When I get that first at-bat again, it'll be like I never left."
The runner-up for the 2017 American League MVP Award has been taking batting practice since last week during the team's road trip in Minnesota, and the club opted to activate him off the DL last weekend instead of having him complete a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the International League playoffs.
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Chapman, who has been on the DL since Aug. 22 with left knee tendinitis, has said that he's "very optimistic" about returning to the team before season's end. In addition to Monday's sim game, the left-hander threw a bullpen session on Saturday.
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Chapman has had two platelet-rich plasma injections in his knee. Yankees manager Aaron Boone has said that he hopes to reinstate Chapman, who has a 2.11 ERA and 31 saves and 84 strikeouts in 50 outings, to the bullpen this week.