Aaron Judge's teammates can't say enough about his importance to team

The remarkable part of the results from a quick sampling of Yankees’ players in the home clubhouse – conducted by Newsday – late Wednesday night was the similarities in their initial responses when it came to Aaron Judge’s expected return on Friday.

“You can’t explain what he means to the lineup all-around,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said.

“I mean, it’s hard to really put into words how much means to this team, this organization,” Clarke Schmidt said.

Anthony Rizzo, one of Judge’s closest friends and essentially the rightfielder’s co-captain when it comes to clubhouse influence, added: “His numbers, and what he does, how he impacts the game, speaks for itself.”

It certainly has.

Judge last played in a big-league game June 3 in Los Angeles when he suffered a sprained right big toe barreling through the rickety bullpen fence in rightfield at Dodger Stadium.

The Yankees went 19-23 without their captain, slashing .220/.296/.374 in that stretch. Because of that, they enter this weekend’s series against the American League East-leading Orioles in last place in the division, eight games behind Baltimore and 2 ½ games behind the Blue Jays for the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.

“He’s going to come back and I’m hoping that he feels as good as he can feel going forward,” Rizzo said. “Hopefully, he comes back and does his thing right away. It’s going to lengthen our lineup out big-time. When you get your best player back and the best player in the league back, it’s always going to be a positive.”

Added Kiner-Falefa: “Couldn’t come at a better time.”

Kiner-Falefa and Rizzo both mentioned the impact Judge has on opposing pitchers and how simply the reigning AL MVP’s bat being in the lineup should allow those up and down the lineup to benefit.

There is no metric to measure such things but for those on the field, it’s every bit as real as the numbers on an iPad.

“I think just him being there is going to take a lot of pressure off a lot of people,” Kiner-Falefa said. “It’s going to allow us to feel a little bit more confident going into games every day and I think a lot of times that we see how things are going for him, how he’s getting pitched, how he’s having success, and we learn from that. Pitchers are going to…show us what their go-to pitches are and how they’re going to attack hitters, just based on how they attack him. Just his presence is a huge part.”

Rizzo put it in even simpler terms, saying, “Every at-bat he’s up at the plate in the big leagues, he’s stressing out the pitcher, stressing out the opposing team.”

Schmidt, from a pitcher’s perspective, echoed the hitters.  

“He just makes guy’s job’s a lot easier throughout the lineup,” Schmidt said. “[Pitchers] have to fear him, and it helps out the other guys around him. I think the rippled effect will be huge.”

Though the Yankees never used Judge’s injury outright as an excuse for their significant dip in production – and at times pushed back on the narrative, Aaron Boone in particular – the numbers are what the numbers are.

“Losing him, I think everybody saw what happened,” Kiner-Falefa said. “That says it all, honestly.”

Judge’s prolonged stint on the injured list, of course, also overlapped with prolonged slumps by veteran hitters with accomplished resumes like Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Rizzo.

There is a danger is expecting too much too soon from Judge, who has said the toe won’t be pain-free the rest of the season, his goal being to make the discomfort “manageable.”

A player often spoken of by those on the outside of the organization, and on the inside as well, because of his size and made-for-Madison-Avenue personality, in superhero terms is expected to be, fairly or not, nothing less than the savior of the 2023 season. It’s a lot to put on the back of a player who, by his own admission, will be at least somewhat compromised, perhaps even more so after playing all of two simulated games in Tampa rather than the typical step of playing in minor league games as a part of a rehab assignment.

“I think he knows (his body) and is confident enough (to know) if he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” Rizzo said. “For us, it’s no secret if we come together offensively better than what we’ve been, especially since Judge has been out, we have a really good chance and feel good about that. Obviously, it’s easier said than done, but with him coming back, it helps out everyone.”