Aaron Judge to return as Yankees' season continues to spiral

New York Post

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00:00All right, with the return of Aaron Judge, save the Yankees season.

00:03Hashtag All Rise is back in the lineup as the Yankees try and avoid a five-game losing skid.

00:09So Greg Joyce is on to try and pinpoint why the Pinstripes need the next two games to avoid,

00:16I guess, what you could call rock bottom at this point.

00:19Greg, thanks for hopping on with us live from Texas.

00:22I guess let's get into the hottest and most, I guess, hopeful storyline that's out there,

00:26the return of Aaron Judge, the 4-6 in the last 10 without him in the lineup.

00:31So two-part question here.

00:33Is he rushing back to action from that elbow strain?

00:36And part two, can Aaron Judge save the season?

00:40Yeah, I don't think he's rushing back.

00:42I mean, this was the Yankees' hope all along when they put him on the I.L.

00:45was that he would just need the minimum 10 days to kind of let it settle down a little bit.

00:50And he is just returning as a D.H. for now.

00:53It sounds like he'll start trying to play catch today or tomorrow.

00:58And then based on how that goes, we'll see how quickly he's able to return to the outfield.

01:02So that's the biggest next question now that he's back is when can he actually play the outfield?

01:07Because in the meantime, he's just going to be D.H.ing.

01:09And that means you're pretty much going to have Giancarlo stand on the bench

01:12unless they are actually realistic about trying him in the outfield,

01:18which they are leaving the door open for that to happen at right field at the Yankee Stadium

01:24when they get back home.

01:25But we'll see.

01:27But yeah, they needed a jolt, a boost of energy,

01:32and maybe Judge's return can provide a spark like that.

01:36But the reality is that this stretch has gone over two months.

01:39So they were struggling before Judge went on the IL, 25 and 33 since May 28th.

01:44So it was four and six without Judge.

01:47But that's pretty much in line with what they were doing with him.

01:50So it's not like his return alone can kind of save them.

01:55You know, they got to put everything together.

01:57It's, you know, one night the offense goes off and the pitching struggles.

02:01Other times the pitching is there, the defense base running costs them.

02:04It's always something on most nights.

02:07So they kind of just got to play cleaner baseball, you know, get it from all facets.

02:13You know, it's not going to be just Judge's return that kind of snaps them out of this.

02:18All right.

02:18That's something that you were talking about that causes this team to lose

02:22was bad bullpen play last night.

02:26Luke Weaver, Camilla Duvall, and David Bednar each toss a perfect inning

02:30to protect a one-run lead.

02:31And then in comes Devin Williams and Jake Bird.

02:35They came in and stunk it up, Greg.

02:37So Devin Williams has gave up a run in five of his last seven outings

02:41and has a 5.10 ERA.

02:43Are they going to pull him from that closing role again?

02:48Yeah, they certainly have the options to replace him

02:51or at least mix in some different guys in that ninth inning if they want to.

02:55I wouldn't be surprised if they, you know, kind of start to mix and match a little bit.

02:58But just, you know, Devin Williams said after his pretty bad first month as the Yankee,

03:04he had put together a nice stretch of, I think it was around 25 games,

03:07where it looked like he had turned the corner.

03:09But then obviously, like you said, giving up a run in five of his last seven,

03:14all of them coming since the All-Star break.

03:16So I wouldn't be surprised, you know, maybe, you know, in the, you know,

03:20whether they tried David Bednar there, Camilo Duvall, two guys that, you know,

03:24just came from teams where they were the closers, and obviously Luke Weaver as well.

03:28We saw him take over for Clay Holmes, obviously, last year, late last year,

03:33and then for Williams during a stretch here early.

03:36So they have the options.

03:37They have guys that they can mix and match with, guys that have closing experience.

03:40And, you know, it wouldn't be a surprise if they kind of start to mix and match a little bit,

03:47kind of play matchups.

03:49We'll see if they make a full change and have a, you know, full-time new ninth inning guy,

03:55or whether they kind of just go by, you know, who's pitching well at that moment.

04:00But, you know, Devin Williams kind of chalked it up to one bad pitch on Monday night,

04:05which is true, but that's, doesn't, he did say it can't happen there.

04:11He said he feels like he's throwing the ball pretty well,

04:14but he said the last two times it's been one pitch, and that's all it takes sometimes.

04:18Obviously, it's been a rough stretch for him and the team, so we'll see.

04:22But they, you know, by bulking up the bullpen at the deadline,

04:25they gave themselves the options to be able to do something like this.

04:29And then Jake Burry also got optioned to AAA, so they're trying to get him right.

04:33You know, he had a rough month of July with the Rockies before the trade,

04:38and it's continued here, and, you know, two of his first three,

04:41he's gotten beat up pretty good.

04:43So he's going to AAA to try to straighten things out,

04:46but we'll see what they do in the ninth inning here.

04:49All right, let's talk about where the Yankees stand right now, Greg.

04:52They're tied with the Mariners for the second AL wildcard spot,

04:56but the Rangers are just one and a half games back.

04:58There's a chance that the Yankees could be out of a playoff spot

05:02by the time you guys leave Texas on Wednesday.

05:06If that were to happen, how hot would Aaron Boone's seat be?

05:11Yeah, there would certainly be a lot more noise around it, I think.

05:14I don't think that anything would necessarily happen in season.

05:20That's not kind of the Yankees way of historically operating, obviously.

05:25You know, Boone just signed an extension before this season.

05:27And I think he's going to get the chance to try to get this straightened out.

05:33I think it's 49 games left.

05:36You know, the schedule in September, the back end of September,

05:40does look like it could be favorable for them to go on that run,

05:43but they obviously need to make it happen here soon.

05:45And I think, you know, Boone's tone has kind of changed in the last couple of days,

05:49at least in, you know, how he speaks with reporters.

05:54You know, a lot of it early in the season, you know,

05:56when this kind of swoon started in June and early July, you know,

06:01a lot of it was just like, you know, it's been a bad week here or there,

06:04or we got time to straighten this out.

06:05But I think since the deadline passed and then you turned to, you know,

06:10the calendar flips to August and you're in this two-month sprint here,

06:13and as the losses have continued to pile up, I think there's been a, you know,

06:17more of a sense of that this needs to happen now.

06:20And he's pointed out multiple times that it starts with him.

06:23You know, I think that maybe some of that comes from, you know,

06:26we heard Alex Rodriguez talking about where's the accountability.

06:29So I think, you know, I think there has been a little bit of a shift in tone here

06:33over the last couple of days, knowing that they need, you know,

06:36this has gone on for two months now, the stretch of bad play.

06:40So, you know, I think he's going to, I don't think anything would happen in season,

06:44but obviously, you know, it's long over,

06:48it's overdue for them to get this straightened out and kind of go on a run

06:51that they keep on saying that they're capable of making.

06:54Yeah, it's getting late, fast.

06:56Real quick injury update before I let you go, Greg,

06:58that just traded for Austin Slater at the deadline,

07:01and now he's been placed on Aya with tightness in his hamstring.

07:06I know he's set to get that MRI to determine how long he's going to be out,

07:10but is there anything you can kind of tell us right now about how long he'll be out of action?

07:15Yeah, he said at one point last night that, you know,

07:18hopeful that it might only be 10 days,

07:20but then he said it's still too early to know before they get that MRI.

07:25Obviously didn't look good.

07:26He was, you know, busted out of the box to get down the line

07:28and kind of pulled up, you know, on his way to first base because he felt it.

07:33So we'll see.

07:34He said he was pretty devastated by it.

07:37It was only his second game with the team, or second start with the team,

07:40so not the way he wanted, you know, his tenure to go.

07:43Obviously, he was in the lineup last night because they were facing a lefty,

07:46and that's exactly what they brought him here to do.

07:49And so he's going to be on the shelf for a little bit here.

07:52We'll see how long it takes.

07:53He said, you know, he's dealt with some left hamstring strain before a couple years ago.

07:58So, you know, those things are tricky.

08:01You can't rush back from or else you make it worse.

08:03But it does seem like it's going to at least cost him a couple weeks maybe.

08:09We'll see what the MRI says.

08:10You know, it's possible if it's only 10 days, but, you know,

08:15it was the timing of it with Judge coming back.

08:19You know, they don't have to send another guy out

08:21or make a roster decision on who was going to go for Judge.

08:24So it works out that way.

08:26But obviously, they acquired him for a reason.

08:28So they're hoping to get him back before long.

08:31One guy that they brought in at the trade deadline gives option to the minors.

08:35The other guy lands on IL.

08:37Tough start for these guys.

08:39All right, Greg Joyce, thanks for hopping on with this, man.

08:42You got it.

08:42Thanks, Brandon.

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