In a normal year, Aaron Judge wouldn’t have been on the bench for most of Friday night.
He wouldn’t have sat out the series finale against the Orioles last Sunday. Not at the point in the season, when every game is crucial.
The reigning American League MVP ordinarily would be playing every day.
The 2023 season, of course, has not been an ordinary year for the slugging outfielder.
He missed nearly two months with a torn ligament in his right big toe, and skipped playing in rehabilitation games to help the struggling Yankees as soon as possible.
He may not be 100 percent at all this season.
“I certainly don’t like [not] writing his name in the lineup. But also, I’m really excited about his at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said before Judge struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 7-3 loss to the Astros in The Bronx. “I know he’s not physically all the way there by any means. I know I’ve gotta do it, and even going into this 13-game stretch, knowing there are going to be a couple [of games he can’t play in].
“Pleased with how it’s going, but also make sure I do right by him, that we get him built up so hopefully we have him for the bulk of the entire two months.”
The Yankees weren’t the same without Judge, compiling a 19-23 record.
They have gone 4-4 since his return (one of the losses was the game he sat out against the Orioles) and had won back-to-back games over teams with winning records for the first time in a month before their loss Friday.
That makes the timing of his rest so difficult. As the Yankees battle for an American League wild-card spot, they are now 3 ¹/₂ games behind the Blue Jays for the final playoff berth.
Judge entered Friday 5-for-18 at the plate with four strikeouts and seven walks since coming back. He had been pitched around frequently, but hasn’t shown much rust, either.
He also had played just one game in the outfield, being used as the designated hitter otherwise.
“The biggest thing is I’ve been really, really pleased with are the level of at-bats,” Boone said. “He’s able to get off his swing, he’s able to take [pitches] properly. He’s able to do all the things he needs to do in the batter’s box. He’s not getting around the bases as well as he normally would, obviously.
“For the most part, I’ve stayed away from him in the field a little bit by design, just because he’s not moving quite as well. But hopefully, we continue to see improvement there. We just have to make sure we take care of him, build him up.”
field to make sure he stays healthy. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
It’s a delicate balance for the Yankees, Judge and Boone.
They need Judge out there as much as possible, but they also can’t risk losing him, either.
Upon his return, he played two games and was given a game off.
Then he played in the next four contests before being held out of the starting lineup Friday.
The timing could be better, as the Yankees try to build momentum, but that was part of the equation when it was decided that Judge would skip rehab games.
Judge playing two out of every three games is much better than Judge not playing at all.