Yankees' surprise Aaron Judge injury update left one thing unsaid about new reality

For weeks, the refrain in these parts has been, "Sure, people keeping telling us to wait until Aaron Judge returns to the Yankees' lineup, but ... can anyone guarantee that will actually happen?" On Wednesday, Aaron Judge did.

On a night where very little else went well, Judge was cleared to begin running outdoors and resuming light upper body workouts, though no baseball activities of any kind were included in his return-to-play package. Still, it was a semi-positive update after weeks in the dark, and Judge himself emerged to confirm that, yes, he will return. He's running out of time. He knows that. But he refuses to end the season on the shelf, and will play before the end of the campaign for a water-treading Yankees team losing its grip on the top Wild Card seed.

The important thing that was left unsaid, though, is what percentage of Judge's peak we'll actually be receiving when he does play.

According to the man himself, there was never a doubt that he would return. We shouldn't doubt that, either. He's determined, and knows that no one can afford for him to sit in silence as the team plummets south. But if he hasn't been cleared for baseball activities on Aug. 5, with 47 games left in the regular season, and with a rehab assignment still ahead of him whenever that clearance comes ... it seems likely that when he does return, he'll be battling against his own body.

We're getting Judge this year. Of that I am certain. But there's no way we're getting 100% of Judge, and that reality seems tough to deny at this juncture.

Aaron Judge's injury return will come with several Yankees caveats

Credit to Judge. He is not letting his season end with a whimper. His quotes were firm enough that I now feel assured that we will see him in a lineup, pending setbacks, before the end of 2026. But given how little he's been able to do until this point, and given the time on the calendar, it also feels perfectly reasonable to say the clock has already run out on the MVP version of Judge. He's a one-of-a-kind freak of nature. It's doubtful that a lack of upper-body workouts completely sapped him of his strength and magical qualities. But it can't be good, right?

Cody Bellinger's agility drills seemingly ramped up in public on Wednesday as well, and he took batting practice on the field. Two weeks seems reasonable for a comeback, which will be worth it for his left field defense alone (Heliot Ramos joined the Trent Grisham Society for Not Knowing How and When to Get to the Wall on Wednesday). Giancarlo Stanton's mysterious live BP session against Clarke Schmidt did include a few swings after all, though not counting on him is always the smarter policy.

But it was Judge saying, "You're running out of days. You've got 52 days left, 53 days left. We've got to get back out there," that stood out the most. He'll be back. But what version of him will be back? Because it's now the season's swiftly speeding timeline, rather than his readiness, that is dictating his return.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow