


After Aaron Judge left the game in Texas on April 27 with what turned out to be a strained right hip, the Yankees went on to lose their next four games and dropped six of the 10 games he missed while on the injured list.
Judge’s return on Tuesday in The Bronx helped a Yankees’ offense that’s mostly struggled without him to a 10-5 win over the Athletics.
Judge went 0-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Aaron Boone didn’t underplay the importance of getting their best player back in the minimum amount of time.
“Aaron Judge, MVP, great player,” Boone said before Tuesday’s game of the defending American League MVP. “As we get him back and Harrison [Bader] and more guys, we’re adding length to the lineup and become more challenging to face.”
The manager said there would be no restrictions placed on Judge, other than a potential day off and some DH days during a 13-day stretch without a day off for the team.
“We’ll be mindful of it and check in with him every day to [see] how he’s doing,’’ Boone said.
With Judge officially back with the Yankees, Oswald Peraza headed to the IL with a right ankle sprain, retroactive to Saturday.
Boone said Peraza has “been doing well in recent days,” but still had some hesitancy moving side-to-side and making plays in the hole at shortstop.
“It’s getting over that final hump,’’ Boone said of why the decision was made to send Peraza to the IL.
“There was a residual feeling of it. He’s been hitting and running and looks great. And he’s been fielding, but he still has that apprehension, so we don’t want to put him in the field.”
Peraza could go on a brief rehab assignment soon.
More important than Peraza is the health of Judge, as well as other key members of the lineup that remain on the IL, like Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson, both of whom appear to be getting closer to at least starting rehab assignments.
But no one is bigger than Judge.
“He’s one of the game’s great players,’’ Boone said. “And he’s our leader. And there’s all he brings between the lines and outside, we’re excited to have him back.”
That’s even without Judge being the incredible force he was a year ago, when he set an American League record with 62 homers.
Prior to the hip injury, Judge’s numbers were — not surprisingly — off where they were in 2022, but not as much as you would think at first glance.
While Judge’s strikeout rate is higher than it was last year and he’s not hitting home runs at the same rate, the outfielder didn’t really hit his stride until about this time of year.
Judge entered Tuesday having played 26 games this season and had six homers, an OPS of .863 and 35 strikeouts in 108 plate appearances.
In his first 26 games of his historic 2022 season, Judge had nine homers, an OPS of .965 and 32 strikeouts in 110 plate appearances.