Aaron Judge Returns to Yankees: Impact and Strategy

Big news, of course, welcoming back Aaron Judge to the New York Yankees. Will any of that make a difference for a guy that wasn't allowed to walk, crawl, drink, anything for the last, what, four or five months? But no need for rehab, ready to go. It's the Rockies, needless to say. So batting practice will be in order here. But what are they going to do with him? Big picture here, Tom. We know hitting, great. They're going to try to get him as, you know, as many at-bats as they want here. The outfield position is interesting. Is he just going to be the DH? Does that, what is, do you think, the plan heading into the postseason with Aaron Judge? Does he play in the field? Can he throw? Do they want him in the field? So he is in the field tonight. So he is starting in the field tonight. And to me, this just seems like a long waiting process for him to be ready for October 1st. It's just what it is. And, you know, the quote saying that he's going to be eased back into the lineup is, you give him four innings, then you give him five, then you give him seven, then he can play the full nine. And I think it's just as simple as that, where you just, there's no need to rush him back because you don't want to have any setbacks at this point. So it's just a ramp-up process over the next two weeks or three weeks to end the season. And maybe he plays two days, then he rests. And then he plays two days or three days, then he rests again. It's just something as simple as that. And then maybe just alternate him playing in the field and DH, because him being ready for October 1st is really the only thing that matters. Bellinger is back. Now you got Judge. We can count Stanton out and you just roll from here. So get him ready for October 1st so we can play a full nine innings. So you can get a whole bucket. Listen, Stanton ain't walking through that door, right? So you ain't got to worry about having another guy that can only play DH here. But I don't think they're rushing him back, right? I don't think that's the case here either, Tom, right? I think if they thought an extra couple of weeks, to me, I think it just means that he's as healthy as he's going to be, regardless, for now for the postseason. Otherwise, if you thought an extra two weeks was going to help, then you would have given him two. It's not like the Yankees are catching Tampa, I don't think here. So why bring him back if you thought this was the best it's going to be? Right. So he's batting third and hitting and playing right field tonight. Ben Rice is DH-ing. So whatever the plan would be to shift the players around, bring in whoever off the bench, it's Ballinger and left, Grisham. Excuse me, not Grisham. He's on the IL. But Jones in center and Judge and right. So whatever change is going to come in the 5th or 6th inning, whatever it is, it'll be at that top portion of the lineup. And again, if you're betting Aaron Judge player props tonight or the next days moving forward, you have to understand that the note is he's not going to be playing a full game. He's going to be eased back in. You have to understand that you're still going to be playing or paying the minus 120 odds or whatever it is for Judge. But he's not going to have his normal four at bat. So account for that in your handicap. There's no other way to put it. He's not going to play nine innings, yet you're still paying the same price for him on all his props. Feels like now I got to bet the home run prop, though. It just seems so fitting. Does it not, Tom? I mean, it's so absurd. Do you think he's going to swing at the first pitch? All right. Now you're getting into degenerate territory. Now you're talking. All right. Let's go here. First pitch. Aaron Judge swing, miss, strike ball. What do you think? Taking strikes, not a bet like that's a hyper specific, but I think he swings. I think he's going to swing on the first pitch. And it's not like, what is this? Gabriel Hughes is on the mound for the Rockies. It's not like he's offering anything that we have to be worried about. It's going to be a low pitch. I think he'll swing and he'll miss. Swing and miss, huh? All right. Home run, I'd say. Done. Home run or off the wall double. And then he like pulls a calf or something. I don't know. Just figures like that's the way it's going to be. I'm just saying it's likely what's going to be Schlittler on the mound for the Yankees. Are we going Rockies team total under, by the way? That was the other one I want to know. That's a great question. What are we getting from the Rockies? And what are we getting from Cam Schlittler? The Yankees are now up to minus 360, which is just an absolutely insane price to be paying. You know, I was looking at Cam Schlittler props earlier today. I was considering the Cam Schlittler, you know, under 18 and a half outs recorded, just because I think it's a little bit high. Does he truly need to be out there for seven innings? Can they just work him in? They didn't play yesterday. The bullpen's rested. You know, you want Schlittler to be healthy. Now the Yankees are back at full health, essentially, but it's a minus 182 price. And his strikeout prop is sitting at seven and a half, which is extreme. Obviously, it's high. He's going to the Cy Young. He could certainly do that. I have no interest in betting anything in this game tonight, frankly. And it'd be looking to a Yankees team total, but I'm still not even getting there.