Notes: Judge improving; Duffy's 2nd chance

NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge is continuing to progress as he deals with a stiff neck that has kept him out of the Yankees’ last three intrasquad games, and the slugger appears to be “in a good spot moving forward to be ready to go Opening Day,” according to manager Aaron Boone.

Judge took on-field batting practice and appeared in right field prior to an intrasquad contest on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Boone said that Judge has been receiving treatment since he reported the stiffness Saturday, prompting his removal from that day’s lineup.

“I do feel like it's a short-term thing that he'll work through,” Boone said. “I know he was probably fairly close to considering playing. We'll see how he comes out of his treatment and make that decision, see where we're at.”

If these were regular-season games, Boone said that Judge would likely be lobbying to play.

“I think he'd probably be pushing to get in, knowing him,” Boone said. “It just would have come down to, from a swing standpoint, how much would it affect him? How much could it be something that leads to a bad habit or something like that?”

Boone remains confident that Judge will gather the necessary turns at the plate and in the field prior to the July 23 season opener against the Nationals.

“Even in the weeks leading up [to Summer Camp], he was really starting to be able to get after it a little bit,” Boone said. “His response to that, being ramped up and letting it go from a swing standpoint, was really encouraging. Before camp even opened, [Gerrit] Cole was here that first day and [Judge] was able to get live at-bats.

“He's done a lot of work off the high-speed machines and things like that, so I feel really good about how much he's been able to build up.”

Second chance
When Matt Duffy fielded interest from both the Rangers and the Yankees this past offseason, the veteran infielder took a hard look at each team’s roster, deciding that Texas provided a clearer path for playing time. Then, when Duffy was left out of the Rangers’ 60-man player pool, he was elated to discover that the Yanks hadn’t forgotten about him.

“It doesn't always work out that way,” said Duffy, who signed a Minor League contract with New York on June 28. “It was a very up-and-down couple hours. To get a call [from Rangers manager Chris Woodward] saying that you're not coming to [Summer Camp] is not ideal. You start wondering where you're going to be for the offseason, what you're going to do in the meantime. To get the interest from the Yankees that was there in the offseason, I’m extremely thankful.”

A third baseman by trade, Duffy has played all but 49 of his 426 big league games with the Giants and Rays at third base. With second baseman DJ LeMahieu’s status uncertain due to a positive COVID-19 test, Duffy is being considered to play in the middle of the Bombers’ infield. Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada have been listed among the other options at second, where Duffy has played only 18 games (12 starts).

“Nowadays with modern shifting and infield play, I think you’ve got to see yourself as a defender in the infield,” Duffy said. “If you see yourself as a third baseman or as a shortstop, you're keyholing yourself into one spot. As shortstop, you're playing really all over the diamond on both sides of the bag. As a third baseman, you're playing the entire left side.

“Coming from Tampa Bay, where they like to move guys around a lot and play matchups as much as possible, I got a lot of work at different positions -- maybe not game reps, but it's certainly not a place that I'm uncomfortable.”

Locked in
Jordan Montgomery struck out six over four innings in Tuesday’s intrasquad game, acknowledging some fatigue in his final frame. The left-hander said that he has had no difficulty looking past his teammates in the box, focusing on his goal of scoring a slot in the Bombers’ rotation.

“These feel pretty game-like to me, because that's how I'm wired,” Montgomery said. “Once the guy’s in in there, I want to beat them. It’s like, they're my friends, but also I don't want them to be able to talk junk to me. I'm excited to face some guys from other teams and to get the season going with this team. I think we're going to be really good.”

Extra, extra
In the early innings of Tuesday’s intrasquad game, the Yankees experimented with placing automatic runners at second base, a rule that Major League Baseball will implement in any extra-inning game this year in order to avoid lengthy contests. Montgomery, Chad Green and Adam Ottavino each said that they are not in favor of the rule.

“Especially for our relievers and guys that could be pitching in high leverage spots," Boone said, "I just wanted to make sure we got that in -- to get them in a position where there’s that traffic on base.”

Rail riding
Doug Behar, the Yankees’ senior vice president of stadium operations, has been helping to set up PNC Field in Moosic, Pa. -- home of the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders -- as the club’s alternate training site. Boone said that some players are expected to begin reporting to the facility “in waves” later this week.

Up next
Left-hander James Paxton will make his first intrasquad start of Summer Camp on Wednesday in a 5:15 p.m. ET contest at Yankee Stadium, pitching opposite right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga. The YES Network will televise the game, with coverage beginning at 4 p.m. ET.