Yankees thrilled to have Aaron Judge, ‘the best hitter in the world,’ back after surviving 84-game absence
· Yahoo Sports
“The best hitter in the world,” as his manager called him, returned to the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night for the first time since late May. What a compliment it is to Aaron Judge that Aaron Boone was neither pandering nor exaggerating with that description.
When Judge is healthy, he is the best hitter in the world. Since the start of the 2021 season, no one in baseball has a higher wRC+ or OPS. In both categories, no one is even within 25 points. Judge has missed significant parts of multiple seasons in that span -- including more than half of this one -- and still leads the majors in home runs in the last five-plus seasons, a period that included peak Shohei Ohtani and a usually healthy Kyle Schwarber.
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So his return from a stress fracture in his ribs should make a major difference to the Yankees, who would probably have been content to be where they are in the standings even if they had not been without him for 84 games in the middle of the summer.
All of the cliches about Yankees’ championship standards aside, many excellent teams have found themselves three games back in the American League East in early September. The Yankees were 12 games over .500 before Judge’s injury. Despite two and a half months of sometimes stunning offensive inefficiency, they were seven games over .500 without him.
“We hung in there,” Boone said, though it should be noted that only two other American League teams have “hung in there” enough to be seven games over .500 all season.
“Not only is it [Judge] and what he brings offensively, but there is an effect around him -- netting better opportunities, better at-bats for everybody, especially over the course of time. I feel like the guys have done a good job of winning games, especially on days and weeks where it’s been a struggle.”
Indeed, after leading the American League in OPS before Judge’s injury, the Yankees were 27th in baseball during the three months after. They scored five runs on average with him in the lineup and around four without him. Tuesday, even largely without his help, they beat the Rockies 5-3.
“It’s hard to quantify, but you take the best hitter in the world out of your lineup, that’s pretty significant,” Boone said.
Judge was only in the lineup for three at-bats and six innings Tuesday because the Yankees are going to build him up to a full nine innings over the next few days -- but even his limited return rightfully qualified as spectacle.
Cameras huddled around the entrance to the dugout waiting for him during batting practice. Not many fans were in the ballpark by the time he did, but the ones who were mustered a small cheer. Boone leaned on a bat nearby, visibly holding back a smile as Judge marched by the cameras without one. Judge plays the part of superhero here. If he is somehow mortal behind the scenes, Boone and the Yankees respect him too much to spoil the legend.
/ IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“[The buzz] is there,” Boone said. “I think it’s real. His presence is very real, and obviously we know what he means to those guys, not only as a player but as a person in that room.”
Boone was one of the Yankees staffers who spent Monday at Yankee Stadium watching what they hoped would be Judge’s final workout before returning. Judge had pushed to return sooner, after Trent Grisham injured his hamstring Friday night in San Diego.
“He actually appeared at my door after Grish got hurt,” Boone said. “Had to push that away. Didn’t want to do that because there were some final boxes we definitely wanted him to check.”
One of those boxes was labeled “facing live pitching,” so, an eager Judge told them “great, I’ll do that on the day off so I can play.”
So Monday, he simulated a few innings in the outfield. Boone talked to Judge to see if he was ready. He talked to the Yankees’ strength and conditioning team to see if they thought the superstar was ready. Boone said he even talked to owner Hal Steinbrenner to get his thoughts on Judge’s return.
Monday evening, they made the move.
“I wanted to come back a couple months ago,” Judge said Tuesday night. “But I’m not a trainer, so I gotta check whatever boxes they got.”
Judge looked like a man who only saw live pitching once in the last three months at times during his three at-bats Tuesday. At other moments – like when he hit a soaring fly ball to deep right center in his second – he looked a tick or two away.
He finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and only departed in the sixth after a long conversation with his manager at the top step of the dugout.
“I respect Boonie, so whatever he says I’m gonna do,” Judge said. “But I’m not happy about it.”
Though Boone and others say they still don’t know for sure, they think Judge suffered the injury diving for a ball in April. So he won’t be diving for balls in the outfield, at least to the extent he can override his instincts.
But Boone also said he does not plan to spell Judge with designated hitting duties as he builds back up to everyday duty: The Yankees, trailing the Rays in their division and trying to play their way out of a trip to Boston for a treacherous Wild Card series, have a better lineup when they can use others as the designated hitter.
And they will be using their best lineup, even if that lineup cannot have Judge for a full nine innings for a few days while they build up his in-game stamina.
“I think what it is is we’re very left-handed and have been much of the year. So how many days of the week are we getting a lefty in the fifth inning, in the seventh inning, in the ninth inning, and they’re matching up against us, and they don’t have to roll through Aaron Judge?” Boone said. “There’s a protection element there.”
The lineup did not exactly explode in its win over the Rockies, but Boone’s point materialized anyway: When Judge’s spot came up with two on and no one out in the, Heliot Ramos faced Rockies’ lefty Brennan Bernardino. He hit a three-run homer, exactly the kind of blow they sorely needed from a righty in the middle of the order during Judge’s absence.
“Hitting is a weird game, a fickle game. Sometimes you get it that first week and it clicks with you and you’re rolling. Sometimes it takes some time,” Boone said. “So I think it’s good that we’re getting [Judge] back now when we are -- we can build him up properly but hopefully get him clicking as soon as possible.”
All summer, night after night, the Yankees offense looked like it might be broken. Night after night, Yankees hitters hung their heads. Day after day, Boone tried to explain why his lineup was not scoring. Perhaps, without pandering or exaggerating, it was simply meant to include the best hitter in the world.