Judge's progress continues in sim game at Yanks' Tampa complex
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NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge played five innings under simulated conditions on Tuesday afternoon at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Fla., according to manager Aaron Boone, who said that the injured slugger took at-bats, ran the bases and played defense.
The workout marked another step forward for Judge, who has been on the injured list since June 4 with a torn ligament in his right big toe. Judge saw 16 pitches in live batting practice on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, facing rehabbing right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga.
“We’re seeing how this goes, seeing how we can script things and making sure he gets a lot of at-bats,” Boone said.
Boone said that Judge would face Loáisiga again on Wednesday at the Tampa facility.
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It is possible that Judge could return without playing in a Minor League game; the organization has not decided if he will be sent on a rehab assignment, and Boone did not rule out the chance that Judge could be activated for Friday’s series opener against the Orioles in Baltimore.
“I think it’s just day to day right now,” Boone said. “It’s, ‘Get through today and tomorrow'; hopefully we can ramp up and it’s a couple [innings] more. I don’t think he had any action in the field today. We’ll try and set up situations to make sure there’s action in play, or script some things a little bit more so that not only is he getting the volume of being out there for an hour or two hours, getting the live at-bats, but trying to replicate things that would come up in the game as much as we can.”
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Judge said earlier this week that “it's not going to be pain-free” when he returns, adding, “We'll just get as close to manageable as we can.”
Boone said that he is not sure if Judge has run the bases at 100 percent yet, but the manager believes that Judge’s rehab has continued to move in an encouraging direction.
“The fact that we’re at this point is a positive,” Boone said.
The reigning American League MVP, Judge slashed .291/.404/.674 with 19 homers and 40 RBIs in 49 games before sustaining his toe injury crashing through Dodger Stadium’s right-field bullpen gate on June 3.