Last week, an injured Aaron Judge helplessly watched his team, the New York Yankees, being humiliated by the hands of the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels swept the Yanks for the first time since 2009, as the latter failed to turn up both offensively as well as defensively. Judge had enough of the humiliation as he ramped up his rehab program post the All-Star break to ensure a return as earliest as possible.
Since the All-Star break concluded, Aaron Judge has been going bonkers on the field. After playing catch for a couple of days, he resumed batting and field activities. Meanwhile, ahead of the series finals vs. the Royals, the slugger hit one of the most crucial stages of his rehab program and showed positive signs of improvement.
Aaron Judge Faces Jonathan Loaisiga In First Live Session Post Injury
Last week, Aaron Judge hyped up the fans when he ran bases for the first time since crashing at the Dodgers Stadium. For Judge, running at full capacity remains the most difficult obstacle. Hence, the sight of him running on bases brought a sigh of relief to the fans. Meanwhile, ahead of the series finale vs. the Royals, the Yankees cap turned up for his first live session. He faced rehabbing pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga. The pitcher threw 16 pitches to Judge, out of which he swung six. Five of those swings landed in the foul area. However, the highlight of the session was that the slugger was able to move his injured foot correctly in his follow-through.
While the Yankees await Aaron Judge’s feedback on the live session, manager Aaron Boone has a few words to say. Boone said that Judge looked in “good touch.” The skipper also believes that the live sessions for Judge aren’t going to get any more difficult as Jonathan was really at the top of his game. Now, the focus is to help Aaron Judge gain endurance and stamina. The pitch count and session length will increase substantially from now. Despite all, the Yankees are yet to put up a return timeline. Earlier, reports came in that after the live session on Sunday, the Yanks will come to a consensus on a timeline. However, the team manager refused to offer any update about the next course of action.
Judge Makes Big Claim On His Toe Injury Recovery
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge has dropped yet another bombshell on his recovery. In an interview with the New York Post, the slugger admitted that he isn’t going to be 100% pain-free once he returns to the field this season. The pain will stay for a while. However, that won’t hamper his future participation in the season. The Yankees office is working to get him to a stage where the pain is manageable to at least get him to DH.
However, despite the pain, Aaron Judge has expressed his desire to return to the outfield. While he acknowledged that the team might DH him for a while, his preference will always remain to be in the field. Having said that, it’s wise for the Yankees cap to play as a DH for this season. The risk of injury aggravating on the field is something the Yanks would want to avoid at any cost.