BOSTON – Getting an injury update on Aaron Judge from Aaron Boone can be like drawing blood from a stone.
Judge has been on the injured list since June 5 with a stress fracture of his right rib. The Yankees announced at the time that he would be shut down from baseball activities for 4-6 weeks before the club would “reimage” the affected area.
Once imaging shows that the rib has healed, Judge would be cleared to resume baseball activities. That would mark the beginning of him being built back up to first play in rehab games, followed by major-league games.
He would require a second spring training, which is why the organization considers Judge returning by mid-August as a best-case scenario.
At the start of the weekend, Boone said Judge, with Monday marking the fourth week the outfielder has been shut down, was not yet “ready” to be reimaged.
Is he still completely shut down?
“I know he’s doing some workout stuff in the weight room,” Boone said before Sunday night’s game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “I don’t know all that he’s doing specifically, but I think he’s doing some more things than he was initially.”
Is it exclusively lower-body work Judge is doing?
“I don’t know the level of things,” Boone said. “I see him working on different things sometimes in the training room.”
Is it upper body or lower body?
“When he’s in the training room, it’s upper body stuff that he’s working on,” Boone said. “But I don’t know what he’s doing as far as exercise-wise right now.”
Boone did offer a bit more clarity on another one of his injured outfielders.
Centerfielder Trent Grisham, sidelined since June 13 with a right hamstring strain, ran the bases at Fenway before Sunday’s game. He could begin a minor league rehab assignment as soon as Tuesday, though that isn’t guaranteed
Regardless, Boone said the expectation is that Grisham will be activated sometime during the Yankees’ upcoming homestand, which begins Monday night against the Tigers. Following that three-game set and a Thursday off-day — the club’s first in 16 days — the Twins will arrive at Yankee Stadium for a three-game series starting Friday
“I do expect him back with us at some point on the homestand,” Boone said. “Whether that’s Detroit or Minnesota, I don’t know that yet, but I do expect him back.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
