ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The injury-laden Yankees are set to get an Aaron Judge-sized boost on Tuesday.
Judge remains on track to make his return from a hip strain on Tuesday, the first day he will be eligible to come off the injured list, when the Yankees host the Athetics in The Bronx.
The reigning AL MVP worked out at 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 should be a full go once he returns.
“That was the calculus in this weekend [if he had avoided the IL], do we want to push him back out there if he’s 85-90 percent?” manager Aaron Boone said. “I wasn’t comfortable doing that just because I didn’t want a strain to turn into a bad situation where we’re talking six to eight weeks.
“I think he’s doing really well. I think we’re going to be in a good spot come Tuesday to where he’s done everything and has been hitting for several days. So I would expect we roll when we go on Tuesday.”
The Yankees had back-dated Judge’s IL stint to April 28, but he is not able to be activated until Tuesday.
That’s because Franchy Cordero, after he was brought up as the corresponding move but then was optioned a day later when Harrison Bader was activated off the IL.
Luis Severino is once again scheduled to begin a rehab assignment, and this time it may be for real.
After the Yankees changed their plans and opted to have Severino throw another simulated game on Friday instead of starting a rehab assignment, the right-hander is now scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.
Severino is expected to throw around 50 pitches on Wednesday, which will be the first of at least two rehab starts as he works back from a strained lat that he suffered during the final week of spring training.
The Yankees still have to decide how built up they want Severino to be before he rejoins the rotation, though the earliest that could come would likely be May 21.
“Hopefully Wednesday, it’s 50ish pitches and then we’re talking 60 pitches [in his next start] maybe,” 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 in the seventh inning.
The left fielder, whose roster spot could be in question when Judge returns from the IL, went 0-for-4 and left seven men on base.
For a second straight game, Jake Bauers failed to come up with a catchable fly ball in 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 trying to go from first to third on a single in the sixth inning, which he also ended with a running catch near the right-field line.
Josh Donaldson (hamstring strain) joined Judge at the player development complex Saturday and is expected to start ramping up his baseball activities during the upcoming homestand.
The Yankees could then begin discussing a rehab assignment.
Carlos Rodon (back) is scheduled to receive a cortisone injection on Tuesday.