Maybe two-time AL MVP Aaron Judge can help get the Yankees back on track.
Judge was activated by New York on Tuesday, following a 10-day stint on the injured list after being sidelined because of a flexor strain in his right elbow.
While Aaron Boone didn’t reveal then what the specific plans were after Monday night’s loss against the Rangers, he had said before the game that Judge would be the designated hitter when he first returned to the lineup. He said the outfielder could also play catch while in Texas, which will help determine when he could return to playing in the field.
After hitting off Yankees minor-league pitchers at the team’s complex in Tampa for the second day in a row on Monday, Judge traveled to Texas and was there for the series opener. He didn’t speak to reporters in the clubhouse after the game.
Judge hasn’t played since July 25 because of the elbow strain. An MRI showed no acute damage to his ulnar collateral ligament and he had a platelet-rich injection July 27, when he was placed on the IL in a move retroactive to the previous day.
His .342 batting average was still the best in the majors after Monday’s games. He was fourth with 37 homers and fifth with 85 RBIs.
To make room for Judge on the roster, deadline acquisition Austin Slater was placed on the IL. Slater, acquired last Wednesday from the Chicago White Sox, exited in the second inning Monday night because of left hamstring tightness after running out a fielder’s choice grounder.
Giancarlo Stanton has been the Yankees’ starting DH for all of his 32 games this season, including the opener against the Rangers when his 10th homer was a two-run shot in the fourth that put the Yankees up 5-4. He missed the first 70 games of the season with inflammation in the tendons of both elbows, and Boone said he wouldn’t play the outfield in Texas if Judge does DH during the series.
Where Stanton plays, and how often, as Judge finds his way back to the outfield matters: he’s one of the few Yankees who has hit in Judge’s absence. While the lineup as a whole batted .231/.311/.399 with Judge on the IL, Stanton produced a .270/.308/.595 line and .90s OPS with four homers and 10 RBIs.
The first time Judge said he felt pain in the elbow was July 22 at Toronto, after he made a strong throw home when George Springer singled to right. An inning later, Judge winced after catching a fly in the right-field corner and throwing to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. Judge was caught by a YES Network camera clenching his right hand in a fist.
The Yankees arrived in Texas after being swept in a three-game series at Miami and falling to third place in the AL East behind Toronto and Boston. They were in first place to start July, but are now 5.5 games behind the division-leading Blue Jays, and currently in a wild-card spot 2.5 games behind the Red Sox with 49 left in the regular season. They’re 1.5 games ahead of their current opponent, the Rangers, in the wild-card standings.
When asked if the current stretch, which includes an 18-28 record since June 13, was weighing on his team, Boone said he felt that it was.
“Doesn’t matter,” Boone said. “Nobody cares how stressful it is, or that’s all just noise, excuses, whatever. We’ve got to play better, and we’ve got to win, and we know that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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