Judge hits off tee, 'not having issues'

NEW YORK -- The Yankees are beginning to get excited about Aaron Judge's recovery from his strained left oblique, as the slugger has hit off a tee for the first time since he sustained the injury April 20.

Judge was frequently spotted carrying a bat during most of the club's recent road trip to Baltimore and Kansas City, and manager Aaron Boone said Judge was permitted to put it to use in the batting cage Monday.

"He's doing really well," Boone said Tuesday. "He actually hit off the tee yesterday, doing some dry swings and obviously you see him throwing and running and moving a little bit outside. Everything is going well. He's not having issues with any of that."

Judge continued to work out prior to Tuesday's game, at one point joining Clint Frazier as they took fly balls from outfield coach Reggie Willits in front of the right-field wall. Judge also performed running and agility drills with Matt Krause, the team's strength and conditioning coach.

"Now he just continues to build up the slow, steady progress from a hitting standpoint, which is obviously the biggest thing with that injury," Boone said. "It's been slow and steady, but it has been steady, and that's been the good thing. He has responded really well to everything. I feel like he's at a pretty good place right now as he really starts to ramp up baseball activities."