clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Around the Empire: Yankees news - 9/20/18

Chapman is back; Andujar joins an elite Yankee club; Judge already feels locked in; Stanton broke science

Tampa Bay Rays v New York Yankees Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

New York Post | Mark W. Sanchez: Just a day after Aaron Judge returned to the lineup, Aroldis Chapman was cleared from the disabled list and rejoined the Yankees for the first time since August 21st. Chapman had been struggling with left knee tendinitis for most of the season, but after a month off coupled with platelet-rich plasma injections, he feels ready to face batters again. With regular season games dwindling and the Wild Card Game looming, that arm couldn’t come back at a more crucial time.

Also, this:

MLB.com | Joe Trezza: Miguel Andujar notched his 25th home run last night, becoming only the fifth Yankee rookie and second rookie infielder in team history to do so. Andujar joins Aaron Judge, Bobby Murcer, Joe Gordon, and Joe DiMaggio in this elite 25-homer rookie club. Yep, that’s pretty good company to be in.

ESPN.com | Coley Harvey: Aaron Judge is back and he’s not shy about it. After missing eight weeks with a broken bone in his wrist, the big man already feels locked in and it shows. Judge’s first at-bat was an opposite field, 112 mph liner straight at J.D. Martinez. As Judge puts it, “I felt like I didn’t even miss six or seven weeks when I first stepped in the box. The first at-bat, I knew.” With only a few games left to play, he has his eyes set to October and he’s ready for the team to get hot and carry the momentum into the Wild Card Game and beyond.

Cut4 | Eric Chesterton: Giancarlo Stanton can do some pretty magical things to a baseball, but now he can add “make them disappear” to his list. In Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox, Stanton fouled a ball off into the upper deck. As is customary, a swarm of fans ran over to grab the ball, but they all left disappointed and confused. The ball seemed to evaporate into thin air. We shouldn’t really be surprised, it was only a matter of time before he broke the space-time continuum.