Aaron Judge is optimistic he will be able to forget about his elbow injury in a couple of weeks as the New York Yankees target a strong end to the MLB season.
Judge threw from around 90 feet for the first time after hitting the injured list with a right elbow flexor strain prior to the Yankees’ 3-2 win at the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
Having the seven-time All-Star back in the outfield would be a major boost for New York, who sit third in the AL East with a 61-54 record.
Judge came off the IL on Tuesday and stepped back into the Yankees line-up at DH.
It felt good – Judge
He confirmed the initial stages of his throwing programme were going well.
“Felt good. Normal throwing,” Judge told The New York Post. “It’s obviously sore. You got a flexor strain, it’s like [a hamstring] – you run for the first time on a hammy, it’s going to be sore. But it didn’t feel like what it did when I hurt it.
“I think for a little bit and then eventually it will get better and we’ll be good to go and forget about it in a couple weeks. We’ll see, I’ve never had this. It’d be easier if I had a quad or a hammy or an oblique and I could give you guys a better estimate about what we got.”
Yankees trying to get big-hitting Judge and Stanton in line-up
It remains to be seen how long Judge will have to spend at DH but the Yankees will be eager to have both him and Giancarlo Stanton in the line-up when the Houston Astros visit the Bronx this weekend.
Stanton was benched on Wednesday but was spotted doing some pre-game work in right field, raising hopes he could play there on a temporary basis until Judge was fully fit.
Stanton has not played the field since 2023 due to repetitive injury concerns but manager Aaron Boone was refusing to rule it out.
“You’re trying to weigh that, trying to get a feel from Big G,” Boone said. “Looks like we do have a couple lefties with Houston, and with [Austin] Slater going down, there’s probably an avenue to get him out there. I feel like G, in his head, is feeling like he can go out there and be representative. We’ll see.”
