NEW YORK -- James Paxton returned to the Yankee Stadium bullpen mound prior to Tuesday's rainout, sporting a brace on his left knee. Though Paxton said he remains conscious of his previous injury, he is hopeful that he will not experience soreness when he reports to the ballpark on Wednesday.

"I felt it a little bit," Paxton said. "It wasn't the same pain that I had before. I feel like I'm very aware of it and thinking about that area, so we'll see how I come in tomorrow and then make a decision on when the next bullpen would be then."

Paxton was sent to the injured list on May 4 due to left knee inflammation, then acknowledged that he has been managing the issue this season. He is 3-2 with a 3.11 ERA through his first seven starts for New York.

"I think we need to feel like he's sound, he can repeat his mechanics, that he is throwing the ball the way he is capable of and he's not in danger of injuring himself more," said Boone, who added that if Paxton reports no issues on Wednesday, his next bullpen session could take place on Thursday.

Paxton said he will continue to use the brace for the foreseeable future.

"I'll probably wear this for the time being until it's completely all the way gone," Paxton said. "It may just be something that I wear all the time. I'll have to talk to the trainers and the coaches and see if that's something we should wear as a precaution once we clear this."

Slow going
Because Aaron Judge continues to experience discomfort, there is still no timetable for the slugger to advance to baseball activities. Judge landed on the injured list April 20 with what the club described as a "significant" left oblique strain.

"It does seem like it's going well and there's small improvements every single day," Boone said. "He's in there running today, he's doing lower body things and he's doing the exercises, the range-of-motion things that kind of test it out, all with the idea of pushing to the limit of not feeling it.

"Once that feeling is completely out, then he'll start graduating to baseball activities and we'll have a better idea on timeline on things, but he's not quite there yet."

This date in Yankees history
May 14, 1996: Dwight Gooden pitched the eighth no-hitter in franchise history in a 2-0 victory over the Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Gooden threw 134 pitches in the contest, 74 for strikes, walking six and striking out five.