Judge will bat second in the lineup on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is back in the lineup, the club announced Tuesday. Judge batted second in the lineup behind leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen. The club announced Judge's return from the disabled list last Friday, where he appeared in right field during the eighth inning. Judge was unable to be used as a hitter but could play defense. On Monday, Judge had 11 live at-bats in a simulated game at Yankee Stadium. Judge was placed on the disabled list on July 27 after suffering a chip fracture in his right wrist after getting hit by a pitch against the Royals. The 26-year-old rightfielder was hitting .283 with 26 home runs and 61 RBI. • Celebrate the Red Sox–Yankees rivalry with SI's commemorative issue The Yankees (91-58) are in second place in the AL East behind the Red Sox (103-47) but sit atop the AL Wild Card standings. The Bronx Bombers began a three-game series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.<doc-sep>With the postseason looming, the New York Yankees added a significant piece back to their lineup Tuesday. Slugger Aaron Judge will make his return to the starting lineup after missing almost two months with a wrist injury. Judge will hit second in his first game back in the lineup. He’ll face off against Boston Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. It will be Judge’s first start since July 26. The 26-year-old has been sidelined since late July after breaking his wrist after being hit by a pitch. Prior to the injury, Judge was in the midst of another fine season. In 447 plate appearances, Judge is hitting .285/.398/.548, with 26 home runs. His activation comes at a pivotal time for the Yankees. The Red Sox could clinch the American League East with a win over the Yankees on Tuesday. It will be up to Judge to see if he can delay Boston’s celebration. The Yankees didn’t just activate Judge for that reason, obviously. While the AL East may be out of reach, the Yankees have a firm hold on a wild-card spot in the AL. As long as Judge’s wrist responds well to game action, the Yankees should be close to 100 percent once the playoffs begin. Aaron Judge returned to the Yankees’ starting lineup Tuesday. (AP Photo) – – – – – – – Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! More from Yahoo Sports: • Iowa State golf star found dead, man charged • Browns coach didn’t know key info about kicker • NFL Power Rankings: Rams’ big gamble is paying off • Pat Forde: 7 new college coaches who have been busts so far<doc-sep>Aaron Judge’s Tuesday started with a simulated game at Yankee Stadium after their matchup with the Red Sox was pushed back from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. because of inclement weather. It ended with the right fielder making his return to the lineup for the first time since being drilled by a pitch on July 26, which caused a chip fracture in his right wrist that ended up sidelining him for nearly two months. Judge went hitless in the Yankees’ 3-2 win over Boston, but the real test for the final two weeks of the regular season will be whether Judge can regain the form that made him one of the most feared hitters in the majors. Even the always optimistic Aaron Boone couldn’t guarantee that would be the case. “We’ll find out,’’ Boone said before the game. On Tuesday, he lined to right, hit a hard grounder to short that resulted in a double play, lofted one to the track in right and struck out. Despite the 0-for-4, Judge said, “I felt like I never left.’’ “He looked like he hadn’t missed a beat,’’ Boone said, pointing to the 112 mph fly ball Judge hit the other way. Judge’s placement in the lineup came after he faced minor league right-hander Adonis Rosa in a simulated game, in front of Boone, general manager Brian Cashman, trainer Steve Donohue and other members of the front office. It was Judge’s second simulated game in two days, as he hopes to knock rust off a swing that has been limited to batting practice. Boone said he wouldn’t have played Judge if the game hadn’t been rescheduled. The somewhat odd move of having Judge hit in an actual game for the first time after he had at-bats earlier in the day came after Boone talked to Judge, Donohue and the team brass. “He had medical clearance,’’ Boone said. “He’s ready to go. I feel like physically, the last week he’s been ready to go. We’re just checking boxes.” Boone and Judge have expressed confidence that 30-40 at-bats will be enough for Judge to find his form offensively, and the Yankees wanted to begin that process Tuesday. If all goes well, they will see how Judge feels on a regular basis to determine how often he plays down the stretch. “We’ll watch it closely and see how he bounces back,’’ Boone said. Judge is confident the Yankees are ready to close the season strong. “This is the time to get hot,’’ Judge said. “There’s no time to wait. We can’t wait til the postseason and flip a switch and fire things up. It starts right now. The best time to get hot is right now.” — Additional reporting by George A. King III<doc-sep>The lineups for the Red Sox-Yankees game for this evening were just released and, lo and behold, Aaron Judge is back in it for the Yankees. He’ll be batting second and playing right field. Judge was activated four days ago but had been limited to defense and base running. As of yesterday signs pointed to him not hitting today, but he took swings in a simulated game for the second straight day today — taking advantage of the previously-scheduled day game being moved to this evening — and things must’ve gone well. Judge has been out since late July due to a fractured wrist suffered when he was hit by a fastball from Royals pitcher Jakob Junis. He has taken longer than expected to recover from the injury and the Yankees have felt his absence as he was hitting .285/.398/.548 with 26 home runs and 61 RBI in 447 plate appearances when he went down and no one has, obviously, been able to replace his production. Now he’s back to help the Yankees fend off the A’s for the top Wild Card spot. Follow @craigcalcaterra<doc-sep>
Paul Bereswill/Getty Images Outfielder Aaron Judge is in the New York Yankees' starting lineup on Tuesday for the first time since July 26. Judge will play in right and hit second against the Boston Red Sox: He was activated from the disabled list on Friday but was limited to being a defensive replacement. When he steps to the plate on Tuesday, it will mark his first big-league at-bat in more than seven weeks. Judge managed to stay in good health as a rookie, appearing in 155 games last year. However, he sustained a chip fracture of the ulnar styloid bone in his right wrist after being hit by a pitch in late July. While he was able to avoid surgery, he missed more than a month while recovering. The 6'7", 282-pound slugger is hitting .285/.398/.547 with 26 home runs, 20 doubles and 61 RBI in 100 games this season. Fortunately for New York, depth throughout the lineup helped the team continue to pile up wins in Judge's absence. It also includes reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Gleyber Torres and Brett Gardner, among others. Not only that, but the Bronx Bombers went out and acquired former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen last month to provide a boost to the outfield while Judge was sidelined. Video Play Button Videos you might like No matter how much depth a lineup has, though, losing a prolific bat like Judge was a big blow. After all, he finished as the runner-up in the American League MVP voting last season after mashing an AL-leading 52 home runs and knocking in 114 runs. That type of production can't typically be replaced by inserting a bench player into the lineup or calling up someone from the minors. If New York is going to win World Series No. 28, having a healthy and productive Judge would go a long way in helping the cause. That means using the next two weeks to get him back into a rhythm is key.