Yankees' Judge felt no pain taking 1st swings since wrist injury
Life without Aaron Judge may mercifully be inching toward its conclusion for the New York Yankees.
The slugger, out since suffering a chip fracture on his right wrist on July 26, swung a bat Monday for the first time since the injury. He took 50 total cuts, including 25 dry swings and another 25 off a tee with a ball, according to Coley Harvey of ESPN.
The most encouraging part is that he was swinging at maximum effort and free of pain.
"I was feeling good," Judge said. "I tried to just do my normal routine. I didn't want to take anything at 50 percent. It felt great. I took some quality hacks. We'll see how it feels in the morning."
He was initially expected to miss about three weeks. More than five weeks later, he remains on the shelf.
The Yankees still don't have a concrete timetable for the reigning Rookie of the Year's return to active duty, but they'll re-evaluate over the next week. If he has no setbacks, his imminent future will clear up shortly.
"Once we get through this weekend, and if he continues to graduate, then you start really thinking about a possible timeline about maybe getting back," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Prior to the injury, Judge was enjoying a fine season at the plate. He sported a slash line of .285/.398/.548 with 26 home runs in 99 games.