BALTIMORE — Aaron Judge’s return to the New York Yankees is rich with both tangible and intangible benefits. It was particularly well-timed, coming just days before the trade deadline and with almost exactly two months left in this uneven season.
It is not just the American League’s single-season home run leader, a man who blasted 19 home runs in 49 games before suffering a dislocated right big toe, that the club welcomes back. It’s the way opposing teams are intimidated by his presence, and pitch everyone differently, says Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón.
And it’s not just his 2.5 Wins Above Replacement, a total that still leads the Yankees despite Judge sitting out from June 4 to July 28, that the club desires. It’s that the “C” on his jersey was not merely symbolic stitching that came with the $360 million contract he signed in December.
“Knowing that such an important player is back with us and on the field again, I think it also brings a little bit of a morale boost,” says catcher Kyle Higashioka. “Him being the captain and all that.
“They didn’t just give him that title, for show. I mean, he really is the captain of this team, so it’s a big deal to have him back.”
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Yet just three games into Judge’s return, the Yankees are already experiencing the limitations of their superstar’s superpowers.
Judge is not 100% healthy, his return from the toe dislocation a mild medical miracle, one that must be managed. As such, Sunday’s lineup in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles did not include Judge just three games into his comeback, and one night after hitting a home run.
“It’s difficult to not have him in there,” manager Aaron Boone acknowledged. “You’re dealing with trying to protect the toe and stuff and then you start worrying about soft tissue stuff. The calves and the (hamstrings) and things.
“Thirteen (games) in a row right now. I’m kind of hoping he starts 10 of them.”
And then the Yankees went out and showcased their shortcomings, putting the distance between themselves and the first-place Orioles — and the three teams they are chasing for a precious wild card slot — in visual form.
The Orioles won the series and stretched their AL East lead over the last-place Yankees to nine games with a 9-3 throttling. In their first “Sunday Night Baseball” appearance in five years, the first six Orioles reached base against Luis Severino; they rapped seven hits and scored seven runs and looked spry and explosive in just one half inning.
These are heady times in Baltimore, where 37,429 came out to Camden Yards as fans eagerly anticipate general manager Mike Elias’ maneuvers at Tuesday’s trade deadline, where the Orioles for the first time in six years are on the attack.
The Yankees are in a far different predicament. Their market demands constant competition, and their record – 55-50 – and relative proximity to a playoff berth justifies action.
Their many flaws suggest otherwise.
Sunday, Severino was jolted by the young Orioles — single, single, double, double, walk, three-run homer — and his ERA ballooned to 7.49. After giving up nine earned runs for the second time this season, his self-assessment was unsparing: “I feel like the worst pitcher in the game, no doubt about it.”
Slugger Anthony Rizzo, who recently broke a two-month drought without hitting a home run, struck out five times, giving him 95 in 364 at-bats. The Yankees struck out 18 times, their most in a game since 2019 and the most in Baltimore history for a nine-inning game.
‘It’s like a broken record’
Boone says it is not his style to publicly lobby for a specific need to be addressed at the deadline, saying it would be “a slight” to the club’s front office personnel. Truth be told, the club’s needs — a left fielder, starting pitching depth, perhaps a third baseman — are many and the market limited.
“The deadline’s always tricky, especially this year with so many teams that are in the mix going for it,” says Rizzo. “So I think we have the guys in here. We have Judgey back. It’s just the production. The production can come from within here.
“We know that. But it’s like a broken record.”
Indeed, the Yankees have been held to three runs or less in eight of 14 games since the All-Star break. With both Judge and DJ LeMahieu getting Sunday off, a club with a $285 million payroll batted Jake Bauers leadoff and Isiah Kiner-Falefa fifth; Billy McKinney and IKF have turned left field into something of a light-hitting time share.
LeMahieu, meanwhile, has an 88 adjusted OPS and in concert with the injured Josh Donaldson’s prior work, the Yankees are getting far from league-average production from two traditional power spots — third base and left field.
Meanwhile, the market is moving without them. The Los Angeles Angels snagged one outfield option, Colorado’s Randal Grichuk, on Sunday night, while the Chicago Cubs’ declaration that they will not sell off parts takes Cody Bellinger off the market.
Yet, there is Judge.
‘I wouldn’t count us out’
He’s not the only reinforcement coming. Lefty Nestor Cortes is likely just days away from a return and could logically supplant Severino in the rotation. Reliever Jonathan Loaisiga is out on a rehab assignment and could return soon after missing nearly four months to undergo elbow surgery to remove bone spurs.
It is Judge, though, who can inspire hope simply with his 6-foot-7 frame greeting a pitcher in the first inning. The Yankees are now 31-20 with Judge and 25-30 when he doesn’t play, a metric illustrated when he homered Saturday and they won their only game this series.
“I wouldn’t count us out,” Judge said Saturday.
The urgency is creeping. Fifty-five games remain, but Monday night, the Yankees welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to Yankee Stadium for four games. They lead the Yankees by seven games and can also win the season series by winning three against them, effectively adding another game to the lead.
As Judge works back into his routine, the Yankees might finally present something resembling the best version of themselves. Rodón, their $162 million acquisition, did not make his first start as a Yankee until July 7. Cortes’ return would give them an approximation of their opening-day rotation.
Still, it’s about execution.
“We still somehow managed to keep ourselves in it even though we haven’t played well at all,” say Rodón, “which is something to say. I mean, I feel like when teams play us, they give us our best, as they should, because of the name on our chest, the reputation.
“We are a good team. I don’t think we played our best baseball yet this year. So I’m looking forward to that, and so are Yankees fans.”
Beyond that, the calendar may soon be their enemy. Leapfrogging four teams to win the East is looking unlikely; the final two wild-card slots look more realistic. And none of it much matters without the Yankees resolving their problems with external reinforcements — or internal execution.
“Nothing stops,” says Boone. “We gotta get back on the horse. Tampa’s coming in and we gotta get ready to go, with the urgency of where we’re at in the season.”
