Yankees' Aaron Judge shows a little progress in recovery from toe injury

 Finally, some tangible progress for Aaron Judge.

“He was in the pool yesterday,” Aaron Boone said before Thursday night’s 10-2 loss to the Mariners. “He’s able to do more balancing and strength things, things he wasn’t really able to do at all four or five days ago. He’s starting to get to those points. Hopefully we get to the point at the end of the week (before Sunday) he starts doing some throwing and maybe some light hitting.”

Standing at his locker after Thursday's loss, Judge told Newsday: “We’re getting closer. I think we’re progressing the right way. I kind of told them I’d like to be testing some baseball stuff, see how that feels, and if it feels good we can keep going, if it doesn’t feel good, then we keep reassessing and trying to find a way to get this thing healed up.”

Though that without question is a positive as Judge has been relegated to doing very little physically of late, the Yankees are still a ways from providing a timeframe for when the reigning American League MVP will return from the right big toe sprain that landed him on the injured list June 7.

Judge has received two PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections in the toe since the injury occurred June 3, when his right foot banged hard into the cement base of the bullpen door in right field at Dodger Stadium as he made a running catch, and subsequently crashed through the door, on a deep drive by J.D. Martinez.

The first shot occurred June 6 and the second came last Thursday. After feeling a significant amount of pain in the days after the second shot, that has dissipated dramatically since.

The Yankees, after winning the first two games of the series against the Mariners, fell to 6-9 in Judge’s absence with Thursday night’s dreadful loss, one the outfielder watched helplessly from the dugout.

“It’s tough because I want to be out there,” Judge said. “We came in here and we got a big series win against a good ballclub that’s a playoff [contending] team when they’re right. I could sit here and bang the negatives out on a 10-2 game we had tonight, but we’ve got some guys that have some good track records. There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played. We’re not even at the All-Star break. I think it’s most importantly about guys getting healthy, feeling good and getting at-bats. The track record speaks for itself for a lot of those guys. We’re going to be fine.”

Calhoun to the IL

As expected, Willie Calhoun was placed on the IL Wednesday with a left quad strain, an injury incurred in the eighth inning Wednesday night when the outfielder ran to first trying to beat out a grounder to third. Utility man Oswaldo Cabrera was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the corresponding roster move.

“It’s really sore today,” Calhoun said Thursday in the clubhouse. “It’s similar to a few years ago.”

Calhoun suffered a similar injury a few years ago and said it took 3-4 weeks for him to heal. Calhoun was scheduled for an MRI on the quad Thursday afternoon and was slated to get a PRP injection in the coming days.

Hamilton close

Righty Ian Hamilton, a bullpen surprise the first six weeks of the season before hitting the IL May 17 with a right groin strain, will make a rehab appearance Saturday with Double-A Somerset. Hamilton, who had 1.23 ERA in 16 games, could be activated at some point during the Yankees’ upcoming six-game trip, which starts Tuesday in Oakland.