Player of Week Judge belts home run No. 43
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge rounds the bases on his two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Aaron Judge was named the AL player of the week for a second straight week after slashing .348/.483/1.000 with five homers, 10 RBIs and seven runs in six games.
Judge, the heavy favorite to win the AL MVP award, became the first Yankee to receive consecutive player of the week honors since Gary Sanchez did it in August 2016.
Judge doubled and homered — giving him an MLB-leading 43 home runs — in his first two at-bats Monday night against Seattle. It was his 10th homer in his last 11 games and 13th in his last 16.
“Player of the week, back-to-back weeks, even for a guy in the middle of an MVP season, that’s like, wow,” Aaron Boone said. “There is a level of awe. And the season he’s putting together I think has continued to raise that level of awe.”
Thumbs-up for Sevy
Luis Severino took his first step toward his return from the injured list on Monday, playing catch in the outfield several hours before the game against the Mariners.
It was the first time the righthander threw a baseball since going on the IL on July 14 with a right lat strain.
“I asked him, ‘How did it go?’ and he gave me a thumbs-up,” Boone said. “Good start to the throwing progression.”
Severino, who was transferred to the 60-day IL on Monday and won’t be back until September, is 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 16 starts. Severino’s injury put the Yankees in a rotation bind, one they addressed with the addition of righthander Frankie Montas, whom they got from the A’s.
Roster doings
The Yankees optioned Clarke Schmidt to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and signed righty Carlos Espinal and added him to the roster. Espinal, 25, posted a 2.58 ERA in 28 combined relief appearances between Double-A Somerset and Scranton.
