Yankees will take it slow with Aaron Judge as slugger starts at DH vs. Rays
Aaron Judge of the Yankees walks to the plate during first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on Monday, July 31, 2023. Credit: Errol Anderson
The Yankees on Monday night began a seven-game homestand against two of their chief competitors for the postseason — Tampa Bay and Houston — and so the importance of having Aaron Judge was obvious.
He served as the DH and went 0-for-1 with three walks and a strikeout in his first Stadium appearance since suffering the toe injury that cost him 42 games. He is 3-for-7 with six walks in three games since his return from the injured list Friday.
Judge, who did not have a minor-league rehab stint, played two of the three games in Baltimore before resting on Sunday.
“You know, we’re going nowhere if we run Aaron Judge into the ground when he hasn’t had a rehab game,” Aaron Boone said before Monday’s 5-1 loss to the Rays. “The thought behind not having do a rehab assignment was we get to do [this] and have the benefits of having him in line for a couple of days, like we had him do in Baltimore.”
He added: “You’re in a stretch of 13 in a row where you know he’s going to have at least a couple down — you’ve got to do that. If we’re going to get to the playoffs or be the team we expect to be, we got to play really well over a 50-plus-game sprint now. So you’ve got to take a little bit of that big picture.”
Of more concern ws the way Judge looked while running from first to third on Anthony Rizzo’s single. It hurt just to watch him, but he later said he felt fine. “Hopefully that’s something that as we go continues to improve,” Boone said. “That’s the thought there.”
Boone said of the plan for Judge: “We’ll see. I mean, it’s day-by-day. We feel like he’s in a pretty good spot right now, DHing tonight . . . Hopefully he can play this entire series, but we’re going to take it day-by-day.”
Donaldson is eager
Josh Donaldson appears driven to suit up again before the season ends. The third baseman was placed on the 60-day IL July 16 with a right calf strain but was moving around well before Monday’s game and took batting practice on the field with the team. “I feel really good right now, compared to what the initial results were,” he said.
Donaldson is batting .142 but has 10 home runs among his 15 hits in 33 games.
He cannot be activated until the middle of September and his appearance in BP may have made that call look premature. “I was just told that I was going on the 60,” he said. “I don’t make those decisions, but I feel good with where I’m at right now.”
Asked about eventually returning, he said, “As a competitor, you want to be able to help your team as often as you can.”
Faith in Rizzo
Rizzo was 1-for-4, bringing his current skid to 3-for-25. Boone called moving him down in the order “a consideration.”
Asked why he believes he will get hot again, Boone said, “He’s Anthony Rizzo. He’s healthy. He’s had flashes over the month [including a 4-for-4 game on July 23].”
“I think it’s a drought, an extended struggle more so than he’s ever experienced in his career. But you trust the player that he’s going to get there.”
Marinaccio to Triple-A
Ron Marinaccio paid the price for Luis Severino’s short start Sunday and Domingo German getting scratched from Monday’s start, getting optioned to Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre.
A trusted part of the Yankees’ end game earlier this season, he has struggled recently and was 4-5 with a 4.08 ERA. The timing feels odd after he retired all eight batters he faced Sunday.
“We had to make a move. Unfortunately, Ron has options,” Boone said. “It was really good to see him throw the ball well last night. It’s as good as we’ve seen him pitch in the last few weeks. So it’s not ideal.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
