The New York Yankees have fallen down the standings in recent months, largely due to the absence of star outfielder Aaron Judge. He was expected to return from the IL on Friday, and the team made an official decision on that front.
Judge has been out since suffering a serious toe injury back in early June, and the team has greatly missed him. The team has gone just 19-23 since his injury suffered on June 3.
The organization previously said that Judge would be returning from the IL on Friday if there were no setbacks in his recovery. And it seems like everything has gone to plan, as he has indeed been activated to return by the team.
Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
•Reinstated OF Aaron Judge (#99) from the 10-day injured list.
•Optioned INF Oswald Peraza to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 28, 2023
In a corresponding move, the Yankees will be optioning top infield prospect Oswald Pereza back to Triple-A. Pereza failed to find much of a role on the Yankees in his first stint in the majors, recording just a .173 batting average at the plate on 52 at-bats.
Some fans aren’t exactly thrilled about Peraza, but nearly every Yankees fan is ecstatic that Judge is indeed returning.
Good news on Judge….
No so much on Peraza being banished again…
— Bill Shepherd… (@MyGSDog_HavoK) July 28, 2023
Judge is back!!! But Peraza gone 🙁
— Luke Sawhook 🪚🪝 (@lukesawhook) July 28, 2023
With the season on the line I can see why they rushed Aaron Judge back. Have to hope he performs and the foot issue is manageable. https://t.co/GBcSPmEROy
— Yankeesource (@YankeeSource) July 28, 2023
Love that the Captain is back but man just trade Peraza already if you’re not going to play him. https://t.co/pRZxq8ebpr
— #BLM Giancarlo (@BLM_Stanton) July 28, 2023
I don’t understand why this team would rather protect Bauers or McKinney and not let Peraza work through the kinks on the MLB team. The Yankees now have 7 outfielders on the 26-man roster.
Judge
Stanton
Bader
Bauers
McKinney
Allen
IKF https://t.co/2Jo3VOw4pv— Empire State of Baseball (@ESBPodcast) July 28, 2023
This news on Judge certainly couldn’t have come at a much more important time for the Yankees. The team has underperformed given expectations for much of the season but is still within striking distance of an AL Wild Card spot.
They currently sit 2.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final playoff spot in the American League, and Judge could seemingly provide the much-needed spark to their struggling lineup in order to chase them down.
