ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Aaron Judge will be back in line-up and right field for Saturday’s game against the Rays after missing the previous two games with pain on his left.
When asked what told him Judge was ready to return, Aaron Boone said, “Him.”
Judge played for the last time on Tuesday and then sat on Wednesday, for the day off on Thursday.
Boone said Judge wanted to play on Friday, but the manager preferred to be careful of the injury-prone slugger who has had rib and oblique issues in the past.
“It’s always good to write his name in it,” Boone said. “We just try to be gentle with him at first [in the season], don’t want this to be something that becomes a problem. Hopefully we can get past that. “
Judge homered in each of his previous two games, but didn’t seem comfortable on base or in the field on Wednesday.