New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge admitted Tuesday that he is still unable to run as he deals with a torn ligament in his big right toe.
“I got to be able to run. If I can run, then I can play,” the team captain said Tuesday. “(But) me running at 10 percent ain’t going to help anybody out there.”
Judge, 31, sustained the injury on June 3 after slamming his toe against the fence at Dodger Stadium while making a catch in the outfield. The Yankees placed him on the injured list three days later.
Judge admitted that he’s making progress in his recovery, participating in light hitting drills and even playing catch last week. Still, the reigning American League MVP is being cautious with any timetable on his return.
“Besides running is me being able to put 270 pounds on one leg when I’m hitting,” Judge said. “Once we build up that strength and get the pain out of there, we’re going to be in a good spot. I kind of understand you’re going to deal with some pain coming back, so it’s just about getting to a point where it’s tolerable and we’re not setting ourselves back here.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he’s willing to listen to Judge before letting his star back on the field.
“He’ll let us know,” Boone said. “The biggest thing is we want him doing things that he can tolerate without putting himself in a lot of pain. The last few days, I know he’s been hitting off the tee and that’s gone well. Obviously not full bore, but I think it was probably a week or so ago where he started to show me a little bit how he could rotate on his backside a little bit.
“So those are the small steps we’re seeing where he is getting better and getting closer, but it’ll depend on how he responds to everything in a way where he can tolerate things.”
Judge is hitting .291 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 49 games this season.
–Field Level Media