Dressed in a white T-shirt, dark blue shorts, and a Yankees cap, the man in the batting box took healthy hacks, the balls traveled so high and so far that they probably teased the wire fence before disappearing into the forest.
The man: Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge.
What fractured rib?
“He looks super healthy right now,” said Jason Ferber, who helped organize the practice at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, when he was contacted by NJ Advance Media on Thursday morning.
That’s music for Yankees fans, who have been narrating every step in the 28-year-old’s rehab due to a fractured right first rib and pneumothorax. The injury, which the Yankees believe occurred last September, prevented the team’s most dangerous hitter from playing any game in the first iteration of spring training.
On Tuesday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters he was “optimistic” that Judge would be ready for opening day on July 23-24. Manager Aaron Boone has expressed a similar sentiment.
After watching the video above, who could blame them?
Ferber, head coach and founder of the Brooklyn Royal Ballers National Youth Team and professional baseball skills coach, has known Judge for a couple of years.
Ferber posted a video of Judge and Hicks on his Instagram page (@coachferber), which has 135,000 followers.
The judge was joined by Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks, first baseman Mike Ford, assistant hitting coach PJ Pilittere and bullpen catcher Radley Haddad.
Former Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, now with the Mets, launched a bullpen session. Retired Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia, now a special assistant to the club, played catch.
The Yankees hope to have their first spring 2.0 practice session on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. MLB closed March 13 due to the coronavirus. All week, players and staff have been undergoing COVID-19 testing at the stadium.
Ferber said Judge played and caught flying balls in addition to performing batting drills. The judge took five rounds of batting practice, he said.
Ferber said Judge told him he wanted to work a little so he wouldn’t feel rusty when training.
“I wanted to get in there and at least be a little bit timed, facing pitching pressure like a batting machine,” said Ferber. “Get a couple of at-bats live. We did some live shifts. “
Ferber said the session was not a “high intensity, high volume workout.” Just a little stretch, letting go. ”
Ferber said he was struck by how fun the group was having, how joyous it all felt.
“It was more or less an opportunity for those guys to get back together,” said Ferber. “Her energy was very playful. They were so grateful to be outside, playing again. They were almost like children with the movements back and forth, playing a little with each other when one of them appeared or overturned one. “
Ferber added that Hicks appeared to be in good shape. Hicks underwent Tommy John surgery in October, but the Yankees hope he, too, will be ready for opening day.
Hicks is “heartbroken right now,” said Ferber. “If you look at his body and what it looks like, he clearly put in a lot of work.”
Later, Judge posed for a photo with Don Bosco Prep staff, which the school posted on Twitter.
“They all seemed very, very unpleasant,” Ferber said.
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