Steinbrenner on Judge-less Yanks: 'We've got to start hitting'

NEW YORK -- Even Hal Steinbrenner says he doesn’t know when Aaron Judge will return to the lineup. As the Yankees continue to wait for their captain, the club’s managing general partner said he expects other veterans like DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton to shoulder the load.

Steinbrenner spoke on Tuesday at the Major League Baseball offices in Manhattan, where he is attending meetings this week. He characterized his club (38-29, but nine games behind the division-leading Rays entering play on Tuesday) as “hanging in there.”

“We’ve got to start hitting,” Steinbrenner said. “We’re putting too much pressure on the pitchers, and there are several of our veterans that need to step up, especially with Judge gone.”

The Yankees are 8-10 this season without Judge, who had a May stint on the injured list with a right hip strain and landed on the IL with a right great toe sprain a few days after making a highlight-reel catch on June 3 at Dodger Stadium.

Steinbrenner was asked if he is concerned by how Judge-reliant the team’s fortunes seem.

“The week that he was out [in May], we didn’t play that well, and I understand that we just lost two series,” Steinbrenner said. “But let’s just see if guys pick it up, particularly the veterans that I’m talking about. I don’t think it’s a mental thing. I don’t think it’s in the players’ heads. It’s been a two-week sample size, and it hasn’t been promising. But clearly, he’s one of the best players in baseball. You’re going to miss him if he’s not playing.”

The Yankees have said that Judge is dealing with the toe sprain and a contusion; Judge said that “there’s a couple of things going on in there.” He recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection, intended to speed healing.

Asked when he expects Judge to return, Steinbrenner said, “I wish I knew. I’m not trying to be coy with you guys. You ask all the time, and I understand why the fans want to know. If this was a Grade 1 oblique strain or a Grade 2 hamstring strain, I could say, ‘Here’s what the data shows, this is when he’s probably going to be back.’ But this is a rare injury for a baseball player with little to no sample size.

“On top of that, everybody heals at a different rate. The priority right now is to continue to work on range of motion and go from there, but it’s such a tricky injury, a rare injury.”

Steinbrenner likened Judge’s injury to turf toe, which is a common injury in football -- less so in baseball.

Given the club’s continuing issues with injuries (the Yanks have had 17 players serve 21 stints on the IL already this season), Steinbrenner said that he plans to meet with director of player health and performance Eric Cressey during the team’s next homestand.

“Through the years, we normally tend to have an older team, compared to a lot of others,” Steinbrenner said. “I think workload management is something we really strive to get better at, not just by listening to the trainers but by listening to numerous departments. We need to continue to get better, certainly, in that area.”

Steinbrenner also said that the organization remains firmly committed to Anthony Volpe as the starting shortstop, and that he has been privy to no talks about optioning the 22-year-old rookie back to the Minors. Volpe is batting .186/.260/.345 with nine homers and 26 RBIs in 67 games entering play on Tuesday.

“I’ve had zero conversations about that,” Steinbrenner said. “I think defensively he’s been pretty solid. Pitchers have adjusted to him now. He’s going to have some adjustments to make himself. I don’t think any of this is out of the ordinary. I told Anthony at the end of Spring Training, ‘You are the starting shortstop of the New York Yankees. This isn’t a three-week trial.’ So [he is] going to be that, through the ups and downs.”

Despite the club’s issues, Steinbrenner said that he believes the Yankees remain a championship contender.

“Absolutely, if we can get them back on the field,” Steinbrenner said. “The signing of [Carlos] Rodón, the reason I did it was really that I felt we needed one more top-of-the-rotation starter to get us over the hump and get us past the Astros. We’ve got to have that team on the field, or at least the vast majority of it.”