Aaron Judge says he’s ‘game-ready’

Aaron Judge says he’s ready to go, which is good news for the Yankees.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is confident he’ll be ready for Opening Day later this month. He’s been nursing a stress fracture on his rib and punctured lung since last September and it looks like he’s set to return to 100 percent shortly.

Judge does feel like he needs a few reps to be truly ready for the season. Like everyone, he’s a little rusty after the MLB season was abruptly delayed in March. After an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, Judge told ESPN, “The biggest thing now is just getting the reps in because I missed so many at-bats in spring training. I didn’t get all the reps in the outfield, reps on the bases.”

Judge will look to find the same success he did in 2017 when he last played a full season and launched 52 home runs on his way to winning AL Rookie of the Year.

The one thing the coronavirus delay may have been good for was giving players like Judge extra time to rehab and get ready for the season. Fellow Yankees Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, James Paxton, Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks who were all questionable during Spring Training, will be ready for Opening Day.

Aaron Judge will be ready to compete for 60 games in 2020.

With all of these players presumably available for a full 60 games, the Yankees become extremely dangerous. After splurging on Gerrit Cole this offseason, expectations for the Yankees will be World Series-or-bust in 2020.

When the MLB announced its schedule Monday, it was revealed that the Yankees will kick off the season with the first regular-season game of 2020 on July 23 against the defending champion Nationals. The probable starters will be Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer, making baseball’s return must-watch television for baseball fans everywhere.

The Yankees will then take on the Red Sox in baseball’s oldest rivalry. In a 60 game season, each game takes on more importance, so the Yankees will need to come ready on Opening Day.