Sep 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) reacts during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Yankees' Aaron Judge Makes Another Questionable Outfield Decision

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Erin Shapland | Last updated Sep 7, 2025 2:52 PM ET

The New York Yankees have Aaron Judge back in the outfield, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that he's not ready for the return. The superstar is making "creative" choices instead of throwing to home in this high-stakes series with the Toronto Blue Jays, and it is beginning to cost them.

On a fly ball to Judge in the second inning of this rubber match, Judge threw slowly to Volpe instead of throwing home, and the toss clocked in at just 70.7 mph, per Max Goodman of NJ.com. It was the first of two cautious throws in the inning.

"Aaron Judge didn't need the cutoff man on the Ernie Clement double into the RF corner in the second," Goodman Tweeted during the game. "He hit Anthony Volpe on the fly and almost threw the runner out ... although it was only a 70.7-mph toss," Goodman Tweeted during the game. "On the Nathan Lukes sacrifice fly later in the inning, Judge lobbed it to Jazz Chisholm at second rather than throwing home and the run scored with ease. It was a 69-mph throw from Judge to Jazz, very similar to his throw on Friday night."

Judge has been dealing with this elbow injury since late July, and while he his batting numbers are as good as ever (.322 batting average over his last seven games), his return to the outfield has been underwhelming. In the first game of this series, Judge and Jazz Chisholm miscommunicated in the outfield, resulting in a dropped ball and allowing a run. Judge commented at the time on what he would do differently, but continued to show caution in this last game of the series.

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

“My first thought was to get it into Jazz, get it in to whoever, just for them to make that throw,” Judge said, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “Because my first thought was trying to make the play. It just kind of died before it got to me. So my next thought is, try to get it in as soon as you can and see what happens.”

Cody Bellinger's laser in the second game of the series to take out the Blue Jays' Bo Bichette at home plate stands in stark contrast to Judge's recent performance. It's clear what the Yankees' defense are capable of at their best, and Judge clearly isn't capable of his best in the outfield at the moment.

Despite the obvious issues with returning Judge to the outfield, Aaron Boone has been defensive, explaining that they are coming up with "creative cuts" for him.

"The last couple of weeks — if you guys have been paying attention — we worked on different creative cuts and things like that," Boone said, per Chirs Kirschner of the Athletic. "We'll continue to do that and hopefully kind of continue to evolve it as we go."

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!