Yanks pondering date for Judge's return
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Yankees are beginning to ponder dates for Aaron Judge's return to the lineup, following another positive afternoon workout on Tuesday at Target Field. Judge hit in early batting practice on the diamond, then made several one-hop throws to third base and home plate from right field.
"We have a little bit of an idea of timeline, but I'd rather it continue to unfold every day," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He'll hit again tomorrow. We obviously have the off-day Thursday and I think the work [will be] pretty extensive, hopefully, over the weekend. We'll probably have a decision of how we're going to go about things."
Judge sustained a chip fracture of his right wrist when he was hit by a pitch on July 26. Judge has said that there is still pain in the wrist and wore a wrap after Monday's session, but Boone said that was precautionary.
"I'm confident he will be back," Boone said, "but I don't want to get too far ahead. Let's keep getting through these days as we continue to build. He's on a good track to be back hopefully sooner rather than later."
Andujar joins DiMaggio in Yanks' record book
You may look at Miguel Andujar's statistics and see why the Yankees infielder is in the conversation to win the American League's Rookie of the Year Award. He sees tangible evidence of countless hours of hard work on both sides of the ball.
"Preparation is big here at this level," Andujar said through an interpreter. "I'm always watching videos of the players I'm going to be facing. That's the key. I'm just trying to do that, prepare and execute the plan."
Andujar placed his name alongside Yankees royalty in Monday's 7-2 victory over the Twins at Target Field, bashing a two-run double as part of a six-run sixth inning. It was Andujar's 40th double of the year, joining Joe DiMaggio (1936) as the only Yankees rookies to tally 40 doubles and 20 homers.
In addition, Andujar is tied with Bob Meusel (1920) for the third-most doubles by a Yankees rookie, trailing DiMaggio (44 in 1936) and Hideki Matsui (42 in 2003). It is the first 40-double season by a Yankee since Robinson Cano had 41 in '13.
"There's a lot that goes along with being a really good big league player," Boone said. "It's not just roll your talent out there. There's a lot of stuff you've got to deal with, day in, day out; the physical toll, the mental toll, the grind of it all. Seeing other elite players be able to make adjustments to what you're doing.
"To be able to have the stamina to do it every day, as consistently as he's done it, all the while continuing to work on his game -- I'm just really proud of the season that he's put forth for us."
Andujar entered play on Thursday leading all rookies in batting average (.298), hits (151), doubles, RBIs (79), extra-base hits (65) and OPS (.838). He is tied with Gleyber Torres for the home run lead (23) among AL rookies.
"It's definitely nice numbers to have," Andujar said. "Whenever you put up numbers like that, you look up your stats and they're there, they show the work. The work I've been putting in, it's been a lot of work in the Minor Leagues and here as well. The goal is to continue doing that and finish strong."
This date in Yankees history
Sept. 11, 2009: Derek Jeter breaks Lou Gehrig's franchise record of 2,721 hits with a third-inning single off the Orioles' Chris Tillman on a soggy evening at Yankee Stadium. Gehrig had held the mark since Sept. 6, 1937.