David Lennon: Yankees should put Aaron Judge on ALDS roster (and cross their fingers)

Aaron Judge should be on the Yankees’ roster for the Division Series.

But only under certain conditions, and this would seem the likeliest scenario: Judge is restricted to pinch-hitting duties for Games 1 and 2 at Tropicana Field to minimize his exposure to the dome’s artificial turf, with the outside possibility of trying to play rightfield when the series returns to the Bronx for Game 3.

Even that’s a stretch. Carrying a player with such limited mobility is a gamble for a short series, especially one at high risk of being reinjured, but Giancarlo Stanton could be swapped out to make room. Given Judge’s recovery period from the right calf strain he suffered on Sept. 16, that’s just short of three weeks, the minimum amount of time required for an athlete to return from the least severe grade.

If we’re to believe manager Aaron Boone, who described Judge’s strain as “moderate” a week ago, this injury is more serious than that. Of course, Judge took exception with Boone’s characterization, and no one else in the organization wants to step into the crosshairs of the Yankees’ captain, so pinning down his medical status remains elusive.

From what we do know, Judge received a platelet-poor plasma injection to speed up the healing process and has been facing live pitching regularly, including Friday at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training facility in neighboring Tampa. As for running the bases — something you’d think would be among the criteria for participating in these games — Boone shrugged when asked Friday about that particular activity.

“I don’t know if he’s run the bases,” Boone said. “He started running.”

Which led to the follow-up: Do you need to see him run the bases?

“No,” Boone replied. “Sometimes they replicate things in other ways. The trainers will obviously play a big part in this. As the day unfolds, we’ll see where we’re at and what it potentially looks like for the series.”

Well, the day unfolded and everyone watched Judge take BP with his teammates at the Trop — and do nothing else on the field.

What that meant for his ALDS eligibility was difficult to determine. But if there was any serious consideration about his playing rightfield during the St. Petersburg portion of this playoff round, having him shag fly balls on the turf along with some throwing reps would have figured to be the baseline workout before Saturday’s Game 1.

Evidently, Judge isn’t ready for that. And why jeopardize the progress he’s made by putting him through the paces out there?

Judge already forced his way off the IL last month and skipped a rehab assignment despite a 3 1/2-month absence with a fractured rib, then immediately went back on the IL after only seven games.

Was the calf strain related to his accelerated ramp-up and sidestepping the traditional minor-league tuneup? Possibly. But it could just as easily have happened at Scranton or Somerset.

Judge again pushed to be included on the roster for the Wild Card Series — stating his case publicly to the media after Boone previously considered him unavailable — and lost that round to the manager.

“We had an honest conversation,” Boone said before Game 1 against the Red Sox. “I just felt like he wasn’t quite ready to be what he needs to be for us.”

To include Judge for the ALDS on a still-healing calf is going to require some recalibration of what he’s able to do at the moment. Nobody should expect a three-time All-Star at the height of his powers, not after playing only seven games since May 31, a relatively brief cameo in which Judge batted .174 (4-for-23) with three singles, a home run and 13 strikeouts before hurting himself again.

Regardless of all the simulated-game at-bats and the high-velocity hitting sessions with the Trajekt machines, that can’t get Judge in the same October shape as the 90 or so games he’s missed.

For what it’s worth, the Rays were happy to play along with the idea of facing Judge, but their advance scouts haven’t seen him do much in four months, either. Still, manager Kevin Cash said he was game-planning as if Judge will be in the lineup.

“I think it’s probably better,” he said. “I was thinking that Judge was going to be there a week ago just so I’m not devastated when he’s on [the roster]. I expect him playing rightfield, hitting third.”

The Rays are plenty familiar with Judge. What they’re not accustomed to is the manner in which the Yankees dismantled the Red Sox during the Wild Card Series, outscoring them 18-2 and outhitting them 26-7 with Judge watching from the dugout. That doesn’t mean the Yankees were better minus Judge, just that they’ve discovered ways to inflict serious damage without him.

“I look at Aaron Judge as being the best player in our sport when he's right,” Cash said. “You've got a unicorn in Shohei Ohtani. We don't see him often. You've got Aaron Judge. It's different. The game-planning, we haven't seen too many games with him not in it. It was odd going up to Yankee Stadium [last month] and not seeing him in there, but they have a very good lineup. They've been very good without him.

“It's incredibly impressive, the offensive success that they have had missing the best hitter in our sport.”

Letting Judge convince the Yankees to put him on the ALDS roster doesn’t have to dramatically change what worked for them in the wild-card round.

Based on his level of baseball activity, he’s nowhere near being his three-time MVP self again, and it’s possible Judge won’t get to that point this October.

But might as well give him a try now. It is Aaron Judge, after all.