ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The injury-laden Yankees are set to get an Aaron Judge-sized boost on Tuesday.
Judge stays on target to make his return from a hip strain on Tuesday, the primary day he will probably be eligible to come back off the injured list, when the Yankees host the Athetics in The Bronx.
The reigning AL MVP worked out on the team’s player development complex in Tampa on Saturday for a second straight day, before the Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field, and ought to be a full go once he returns.
“That was the calculus on this weekend [if he had avoided the IL], do we would like to push him back on the market if he’s 85-90 percent?” manager Aaron Boone said. “I wasn’t comfortable doing that simply because I didn’t need a strain to show into a foul situation where we’re talking six to eight weeks.
“I believe he’s doing rather well. I believe we’re going to be in a superb spot come Tuesday to where he’s done every part and has been hitting for several days. So I’d expect we roll after we go on Tuesday.”
The Yankees had back-dated Judge’s IL stint to April 28, but he isn’t in a position to be activated until Tuesday.
That’s because Franchy Cordero, after he was brought up because the corresponding move but then was optioned a day later when Harrison Bader was activated off the IL.
Luis Severino is once more scheduled to start a rehab project, and this time it might be for real.
After the Yankees modified their plans and opted to have Severino throw one other simulated game on Friday as a substitute of beginning a rehab project, the right-hander is now scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.
Severino is anticipated to throw around 50 pitches on Wednesday, which will probably be the primary of at the least two rehab starts as he works back from a strained lat that he suffered throughout the final week of spring training.
The Yankees still have to choose how built up they need Severino to be before he rejoins the rotation, though the earliest that might come would likely be May 21.
“Hopefully Wednesday, it’s 50ish pitches after which we’re talking 60 pitches [in his next start] perhaps,” Boone said. “Then we’ll see from there.”
Aaron Hicks heard loud boos from Yankees fans in attendance after he struck out with runners on second and third within the seventh inning.
The left fielder, whose roster spot could possibly be in query when Judge returns from the IL, went 0-for-4 and left seven men on base.
For a second straight game, Jake Bauers did not provide you with a catchable fly ball within the outfield, this one in shallow right field after he and two teammates had some initial indecision about whose ball it was.
Bauers rebounded by throwing out a runner attempting to go from first to 3rd on a single within the sixth inning, which he also ended with a running catch near the right-field line.
Josh Donaldson (hamstring strain) joined Judge on the player development complex Saturday and is anticipated to begin ramping up his baseball activities throughout the upcoming homestand.
The Yankees could then begin discussing a rehab project.
Carlos Rodon (back) is scheduled to receive a cortisone injection on Tuesday.
