Yankees' Aaron Judge faces live pitching as he moves toward return

Aaron Boone put it best: Sunday was a good day all around for the Yankees.

Before they beat the Royals, 8-5, at Yankee Stadium for their first sweep in more than two months, Aaron Judge took another step toward returning to the lineup.

Judge faced 16 pitches in a simulated inning from rehabbing Jonathan Loaisiga. He did not put a ball in play, swinging at five of 16 pitches, hitting four foul balls and swinging and missing once.

Judge did not appear to favor his right foot in his first swings against live pitching since spraining his right big toe against the Dodgers on June 3.

“When you take into consideration how long [Judge] hasn’t seen live pitching in an environment like that, I thought he looked really good,” Loaisiga said through an interpreter. “I didn’t want to make a mistake.”

Loaisiga, who is recovering from surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow, has appeared in only three games this season and hasn’t pitched since April 5.

Boone said he thinks Loaisiga is headed to Tampa for more simulated play on Wednesday and hopes he will start a rehab assignment this weekend.

Loaisiga said he threw a combination of sliders, changeups, sinkers and four-seam fastballs to Judge.

“It’s exciting to face him,” he said. “He’s one of the best hitters in the world and I’m happy he’s on our team.”

Boone said Loaisiga’s command looked great, making Judge’s patience at the plate more impressive.

“It’s not going to get any harder than that, facing Johnny Lo as your first live session,” Boone said before Sunday’s victory. “To be able to take pitches where your swing says no, those are tests that he’s got to go through in working his way back.”

Boone said he’ll meet with Judge before deciding on the next steps in his rehabilitation, which likely will consist of more simulated games or live at-bats.

Boone added that Judge has been running bases, cutting, practicing defensively and moving side-to-side as part of his recovery.

“We’ll get feedback from him,” Boone said. “One of the biggest things is going to be building up that little bit of endurance, doing it for a couple of hours at a time.”

Judge ran the bases and tracked pitches from Nestor Cortes last week in Anaheim as part of his on-field rehabilitation. He also has taken batting practice with his teammates for more than a week.

After sweeping the Royals (28-73), who sit second-to-last in the American League standings, the Yankees are 18-22 since Judge injured the toe. They went 4-6 when he was on the injured list earlier in the season.

Judge hit .291 with a 1.078 OPS before his injury in Los Angeles and the Yankees had a 30-19 record in games in which he played (they won the only game he sat out while active). He still leads the Yankees with 19 home runs and ranks third on the team with 40 RBIs.

“We feel like we have a chance to be a really good team,” Boone said after Sunday’s game. “We’re incomplete, without question, but we do feel like there are some things on the horizon that are going to fortify us, and we’re excited to get those parts back.”