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Aaron Judge didn't wait for a second opinion. The New York Yankees captain had his fractured right rib scanned Tuesday and the minute doctors cleared him for light activity, he started running. Literally."I just got the scan yesterday," Judge told reporters before Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium. "The minute they said 'Alright, we're going to start running,' I said 'OK, I'll see you outside.'"The light activity that team doctors cleared Judge for includes outdoor running and upper-body resistance work, manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. It is the first forward step in the rehab that had no visible progress for more than two months.There is still no target date for his return. He is not swinging a bat or throwing, which would put stress on the rib. Judge knows he is racing the calendar."You are running out of days," he said. "You've got 52 days, 53 days left. We've got to get back out there."But he has no doubt he will be back."I'll be back this season. I don't know why I wouldn't be. That was always the plan," Judge said. "I never had a thought of not playing this year."The upper-body clearance is the part that matter the most.Judge has a stress fracture in the first rib on his right side, an injury that put almost any loading of his rib cage off limits. General manager Brian Cashman said last month that Judge could not work his upper body at all without stressing the break. Boone had repeatedly told reporters they were waiting until he was asymptomatic before he could start activities.Judge has not played since May 31. Judge believes he hurt the rib on a diving catch on April 26 in Houston and played through it for a month before his production dropped off. He has dealt with this before. He had a stress fracture of the same rib after a diving catch in 2019, playing through the postseason with it, before he admitted it in spring training right before COVID closed down the sport.He was hitting .248 with .375 on-base and .533 slugging percentages, and 17 home runs in 59 games. The reigning American League MVP was tabbed for his eighth All-Star team despite the injury.Cody Bellinger is out with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Giancarlo Stanton is out with a right calf strain.The Yankees have stayed in the AL race on pitching alone.Before Judge went on the injured list, they averaged 5.27 runs a game, fourth most in baseball. Since then, it is 3.98, the fifth fewest. The Yankees entered Wednesday's game with a 63-50 record, 3.5 games back in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and holding on to the top wild-card spot.
