Aaron Judge to Return to Right Field Monday After Three-Game DH Stretch at Fenway
Judge DH’d three straight games in Boston but homered Sunday; Giancarlo Stanton misplayed a fly that became a triple and Luke Weaver rallied in relief
BOSTON — Aaron Judge is expected to return to right field on Monday when the New York Yankees open a series against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field after serving as designated hitter for three straight games at Fenway Park.
Judge did not visit the outfield during the weekend series in Boston, but he continued his recent hot streak at the plate, hitting a 400-foot home run off Garrett Crochet in the fifth inning Sunday in a 6-4 loss to the Red Sox. The long ball marked Judge's fifth homer in six games.
Giancarlo Stanton started in left field Sunday for the second time in three games and was involved in an early misplay. In a six-run bottom of the first, Jarren Duran hit a slicing fly to left field that Stanton overran; a leaping attempt sent the ball clanking off the Green Monster and produced a triple. "I still have not seen a good replay on it," manager Aaron Boone said. "I don’t even know where it landed. All I had was the iPad in the dugout, where I’m lost."
Judge had begun rotating back to the outfield as he worked his way back from a flexor strain, starting four games in right field over the previous two series while splitting time with Stanton. He was used exclusively as the DH in the three-game set at Fenway.
In addition to Judge’s homer, Amed Rosario — making his fifth start as a Yankee — homered off Crochet. Rosario is batting .318 with an .859 OPS against left-handed pitching this season and is 8-for-20 since joining New York.
Relief pitcher Luke Weaver delivered a key outing Saturday after struggling in recent appearances. Weaver struck out a pair to end the sixth inning and stranded two inherited runners, a performance he said helped him regain his competitive edge. "I feel like the last few outings, I’d lost a bit of that fire on the mound," Weaver said. "I know situations bring different moments and I feel like [Saturday] fed me pretty well. I was able to channel and tap back into that and it propelled me through."
Weaver assumed a closer's role late last season and performed well; the Yankees will be looking for more consistent high-leverage work from him and other bullpen options as they move deeper into the regular season. Boone has frequently shuffled his outfield alignment and bullpen usage to manage workloads and matchups.
Judge’s career numbers against Crochet stand at 3-for-15 with 11 strikeouts and two home runs. Whether Judge resumes his defensive role in right field or the Yankees continue rotating the outfield will depend on how the team balances rest, matchups and the ongoing management of Judge’s recovery from his earlier flexor issue.
The Yankees travel to Minneapolis for a three-game series beginning Monday, where Judge is expected to patrol right field and the club will attempt to parlay recent offensive bursts into consecutive wins on the road.