Yankees Activate Aaron Judge Amid AL Wild-Card Chase

The Yankees will get Aaron Judge back Friday, just in time to compete in the American League wild-card race.

New York reinstated the 2022 AL MVP and optioned infielder Oswald Peraza to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, per the team’s press release. It will be Judge’s first game since June 3.

The Yankees have played poorly since Judge entered the injured list to the point fans were tired of manager Aaron Boone talking about how bad his team was playing. They fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson and lost starting catcher Jose Trevino, but the Major League Baseball trade deadline provided some hope.

The Los Angeles Angels took Shohei Ohtani off the market, so New York will have to wait until next offseason to try to acquire this season’s AL MVP favorite. But New York can acquire players to help it get out of the bottom of the AL East.

The Yankees are 2 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL wild card prior to Friday’s slate of games. The Boston Red Sox are a game ahead, and they also could be motivated to be aggressive buyers at the trade deadline.

Judge has the shortest odds at FanDuel to hit a home run at +265, and he’s +550 to hit the first home run at Oriole Park at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles. He’s also +2600 to hit two home runs.

New York is 30-1 to win the World Series and 16-1 to win the pennant on Judge’s first game back. On the flip side, the Red Sox are 60-1 to win the World Series and 25-1 to win the pennant.

Judge returns at an opportune time for the Yankees, and their futures prices probably are at the best they’ll ever be before the star slugger makes an impact.