ARLINGTON, Texas — Not a day too soon, the Yankees are about to get a 6-foot-7, 282-pound boost to their lineup.
Aaron Judge was en route to Texas on Monday afternoon with the expectation that he will be activated off the injured list Tuesday, the first day he is eligible, after missing 10 days with a right flexor strain in his elbow.
Aaron Boone did not want to make any definitive declarations before Monday’s game against the Rangers because he had not yet spoken with Judge.
But the slugger spent Sunday and Monday morning taking about 20 live at-bats at the Yankees minor league facility in Tampa in preparation for his return to the lineup.
“It’s Aaron Judge,” Boone said at Globe Life Field. “We know what he means to our lineup, to the guys in the room. So to get him back, we’re certainly excited about that. Hopefully shortly thereafter, he’s back out in the field too.”
Judge will strictly DH upon his immediate return, but he is expected to begin a throwing program on Tuesday or Wednesday after shutting down his arm when he landed on the IL.
Once he does begin throwing — something he was having trouble doing the last time he played a game on July 25 — the Yankees will start to have a better idea of how long it will be before he returns to right field.
“His arm will tell him,” Boone said.
Until that happens, Giancarlo Stanton will essentially become a bench bat. Boone keeps on leaving the door open for Stanton to play the outfield for the first time since 2023, but it would be a bit of a surprise if he actually gets there, given his extensive history of leg injuries and the elbow tendinitis that he is playing through this season.
At the very least, Boone said Stanton would not play the outfield during this series on turf against the Rangers, but insisted he could be in play for right field once the club returns home to Yankee Stadium on Friday.
Since Judge landed on the IL, Stanton has gotten sporadic, light pregame work in the outfield, but nothing that would suggest he is on the verge of playing there. If Judge’s throwing program does not go well and he has to DH for the foreseeable future, perhaps Stanton in the field becomes more realistic, but the Yankees have not yet crossed that bridge.
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “I’m not ruling out him being in the field when we get back [home], but I probably would not do it here.”
In the interim, the Yankees will likely continue with an outfield of Jasson Domínguez in left, Trent Grisham in center and Cody Bellinger in right on most days — though on Monday they had Austin Slater in left and Amed Rosario in right, stacking their lineup with right-handed bats against Rangers lefty Patrick Corbin.
Entering Monday’s series opener, the Yankees were 4-5 since Judge last played, scoring 4.88 runs per game in that stretch. His absence may have been most felt in the final two games against the Marlins while getting swept over the weekend, as the Yankees scored just three runs on eight hits while getting shut down by both of Miami’s starters, Eury Pérez and Edward Cabrera.
Before getting hurt, Judge was likely on his way to another AL MVP, batting .342 with 37 home runs and a 1.160 OPS. He was also playing a strong right field, though that part of his game will be shelved for at least the time being.
Judge will be returning to a reeling club that has played sub-.500 ball for over two months, well before he got hurt. So while his presence alone should give them a jolt, it will also not be a cure-all for what has ailed for an extended period.
