Yankees get Judge back for Tuesday

The New York Yankees will receive significant relief from their injury woes on Tuesday.

Superstar outfielder Aaron Judge is set to return from the injured list after dealing with a hip injury over the last week or so. Tuesday is the first day he is eligible to return from the IL before facing the Oakland Athletics.

“MVP back,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. “It will be fun to write his name back in the lineup.”

Judge hasn’t felt pain in his hip in the past five days and will perform pregame warmups as usual Monday. The slugger spent the weekend with the team working out at the team’s player development complex in Tampa as the Yankees took on the Tampa Bay Rays.

Entering play on Monday, the Yankees are in last place in the American League East, 10 games behind the first-place Rays. The lineup has missed Judge’s presence, ranking fifth-worst in total hits and seventh-worst in runs scored. His return also portends a change in the team’s atmosphere.

“It’s that presence he has being our leader,” Boone said. “Guys look up to him; I think there’s an intangible element to him, too.”

Before his stint on the injured list, Judge played in 26 games, batting .261/.352/.511 with six home runs.

The Yankees face a decision on whether to activate Judge. Options include releasing outfielder Aaron Hicks, designating Jake Bauers or Willie Calhoun, or demoting Oswaldo Cabrera or Oswald Peraza, who has been dealing with a sprained ankle and could be a candidate to be placed on the injured list.