Yankees superstar and reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge hasn't played in a game since June 3, when he injured his big toe crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium. Sunday, he took a step forward in looking to return to the field when he took live batting practice on the field before the Yankees' game.
For those unfamiliar, "live batting practice" differs from the batting practice we see in a cage before games. In this version, the batter is facing a pitcher who is actually trying to pitch like it's game action. Yankees righty Jonathan Loáisiga was the pitcher Judge was facing. Per reports on the scene, Judge saw 16 pitches from his teammate and fouled off five. He failed to put any pitches in play, though how he felt is much more important than any results.
Just a quick glimpse with the eye test says he looked relatively normal:
"It's not going to get any harder than that, facing Jonny Lo as your first live session," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, via mlb.com. "To have Aaron get in there and have to take pitches where your swing [decisions] are saying no, that's a good test that he's got to go through in working his way back. It seemed like a good day all around."
There still isn't a set plan moving forward on Judge's possible return to the Yankees' lineup, but it sounds like the next step will be another live BP session.
"One of the biggest things is going to be building up that little bit of endurance, doing it for a couple of hours at a time," Boone said to mlb.com. "That's what we've got to get him to next."
In the 49 games he's managed to play this season, Judge is hitting .291/.404/.674 (193 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 19 homers, 40 RBI, 42 runs and 2.4 WAR.
The Yankees are 30-19 when Judge starts this season. Heading into Sunday's game against the Royals, the Yankees were 22-28 when Judge didn't play.
