The New York Yankees are still waiting on Aaron Judge to return to the outfield and may be waiting for a little while longer.
As of Monday, Brendan Kuty from The Athletic is reporting Judge will only serve as the designated hitter indefinitely as he continues to ramp back up in the outfield.
“There’s still no timetable for Judge’s return to the outfield, which isn’t necessarily concerning yet,” wrote Kuty. “Boone told reporters that Judge has played catch at about 150 feet, but has yet to throw to bases. His ramp-up seems to be on track, if not perhaps a little slow, which would be understandable considering his importance to the Yankees. Expect the Yankees and Boone to continue to be vague in their updates on Judge’s progress. The last thing they want is to set an unrealistic expectation for their star and to cause a distraction.”
If Judge’s ramp-up is on track, then it’s certainly a promising sign for the Bronx Bombers. While they certainly don’t want to rush things, this is a Yankees team that needs Judge back in the outfield sooner rather than later. They’re still getting production from his bat as the designated hitter, but they won’t have his defensive attributes for the foreseeable future either.
Throwing to the bases appears to be Judge’s next step, and it’s likely he would start with first base before moving his way around the diamond to slowly increase his throwing distance. In the meantime, New York will just have to make do with who it has available to play the outfield.
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