Aaron Judge may return to the lineup this week, perhaps during the three-game series with the Red Sox starting Tuesday afternoon in Yankee Stadium.
Judge has not had an at-bat since July 26 when he sustained a chip fracture of the ulnar styloid bone in his right wrist after being hit with a 93 mph fastball thrown by Royals pitcher Jakob Junis. The Yankees initially said Judge would miss only three weeks. He is hitting .285 with 26 home runs and 61 runs batted in.
The Yankees are fighting to maintain home advantage for the wild card and having Judge available against the winningest team in baseball could be a big help.
With the Blue Jays leading 8-1, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius and Miguel Andujar (grand slam) homer during six-run seventh, but Yankees can't score again.
"I would say it's a possibility," Aaron Boone said before Sunday's game with the Blue Jays. "I think that's potentially in the timeline. I wouldn't say we're there to make that call yet, but I'd say around that time he could be close. I would think by some point in this homestand, assuming everything continues to progress, he'll be active.'"
There was some thought the team would send Judge to Tampa for continued rehabilitation, but Boone said that will not be necessary. "He'll be able to do everything here."
Judge, who was scheduled to take batting practice against the high-velocity pitching machine before the game, was not available for comment.
Boone is hoping to get Judge significant at-bats before the regular season ends.
"I think there's a realistic chance, 30, 40 at-bats exist," the manager said. "And, you know, again with hitting I believe it's one of those things that's a little bit unpredictable, whether you're a decent player or a great player like Aaron Judge."
Boone compared it to spring training, saying: "Sometimes that timing can happen quickly. Just speaking from my experience there's so many varying degrees of when it kind of clicks ... sometimes you feel pretty good the first couple of games in and it kind comes back easy. Some springs it's a real struggle.
"It's a little bit unpredictable of that nature but I also do believe that there's enough at-bats there, especially for a great player, that there's a chance that he can get into the flow and be the guy we've known."
Judge played two innings in right field on Friday, but would have been pinch-hit for if his turn came up. "Of course, I thought of that, but no," Boone said. "(Trainer) Steve Donohue would have tackled me. I told Stevie I was going to send him up on deck, just to get him going a little bit, but no, he wouldn't have hit in that situation, we would have pinch hit for him."
Boone was asked if he considered letting Judge take the at-bat even to just stand in the box to face live in-game pitching.
"I even thought of that but it's still the game and we would have hit for him," Boone said. "We were prepared to do that."
