Yankees' Aaron Judge pushes back on remarks made by Aaron Boone about his injury
Yankees manager Aaron Boone in the dugout during a game against the Cleveland Guardians on June 4 at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Ed Murray
TAMPA, Fla. – Aaron Boone spoke out of turn.
At least, that’s how Aaron Judge seemed to take it.
During a Tuesday appearance on WFAN, Boone was asked about Judge and when the reigning AL MVP might again play the field.
Since coming off the IL Aug. 5, after missing 10 games because of a right flexor strain, Judge has played exclusively at DH.
“I don’t think we’re going to see him back to throwing like he normally does at any point this year, but that’s OK, too,” Boone said on WFAN. “We’ve got to feel like he can go out there and be able to protect himself and represent himself.”
When the “normally” part of those comments were relayed early Tuesday afternoon to Judge, who had just finished throwing on flat ground at 150 feet with trainer Alfonso Malaguti, the 33-year-old did not appear thrilled.
“I don’t know why he said that,” Judge said. “He hasn’t seen me throwing the past two weeks. I’m pretty confident I’ll get back to that.”
For his part, Boone, speaking in his usual pregame media scrum about an hour before Judge threw, tossed some verbal salad in more or less walking back the “normally” elements of his remarks.
“Maybe that’s a little (overstated),” Boone said in the dugout. “I’m just saying, is he going to come back and be the 70, 80 arm (the highest grades scouts award players) that he normally is? I don’t know that I’m expecting that necessarily. When we get him back out there, I would expect him to be able to handle himself out there.”
And the “when” part of that remains very much an open question.
Judge began a throwing program Aug. 6 in Arlington, Texas, playing catch at 60 feet. He has gradually extended to 90 feet, then to 120 and, Friday in St. Louis, to 150.
“Oh, way better, I couldn’t even throw at 60 feet then,” Judge said Tuesday of how he feels now compared to the start of his throwing program. “So we’re out to 150, feeling great. We’re on the right track.”
The final hurdle for Judge to clear before playing the field likely will be throwing to bases, as that would include him turning his arm loose in an activity that closest resembles real game action.
“I don’t know about bases, that’s up to the training staff and what we want to do,” Judge said. “We’re getting out to 150 feeling good, so hoping to be back out there soon and kind of giving G (Giancarlo Stanton) from playing the field and kind of mixing in DH’ing and outfield.”
Judge said, though wanting to get back to the field soon, he will not rush the process.
“I’m not stupid, so I’m going to be cautious with it to make sure we don’t make it worse because we’ve got the rest of August, September and October, so I have to be out there for all those games,” Judge said. “So I have to be smart with it. I’m not going to be out there and be reckless. Just like a guy who pulls a hamstring, you don’t expect him to go out there and run 120 percent on the first ball that he gets or base hit he gets. It’s about being smart.”
Stanton started in right Tuesday night, but the club made clear late last week the 34-year-old won’t be an everyday option there. Stanton started in right on Aug. 9 – the first time the veteran played the field in two years – and played three straight games there against the Twins, but had difficulty in his “recovery” after the third of those. For that reason the Yankees didn’t start him in any of the three games in St. Louis (and also because of Busch Stadium’s expansive right field, which is much larger than right field at George M. Steinbrenner Field, where the Rays are playing their home games this season).
Jose Caballero, the former Ray who is off to a terrific start as a Yankee since being acquired at the trade deadline, started Friday and Saturday in right in St. Louis and remains an option there. As does the do-everything Cody Bellinger, who started the series-finale at Busch on Sunday.
Setback for Loaisiga
Boone said righty reliever Jonathan Loaisiga, injury-plagued throughout his career and on the IL since Aug. 3 with right mid back tightness, experienced some “soreness this morning” in his elbow/triceps area and will be sent for an MRI.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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