Aaron Boone confirms that Aaron Judge will come off the IL on Tuesday

The New York Yankees have more closely resembled a MASH unit than a baseball team over the last week or two, but at least things are beginning to trend in the right direction. Harrison Bader returned a few days ago, Luis Severino is set to make his first rehab start in a few days and, most importantly, Aaron Judge is almost back:

Judge has been sidelined since late April due to a hip strain suffered on an awkward slide into third base against the Minnesota Twins. The plan had long been for him to return on Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics, when he was first eligible to come off the 10-day IL. But it’s good to hear that confirmed on Monday, and to hear that Judge’s hip has apparently been pain-free for the last five days. Yankees manager Aaron Boone says that the reigning AL MVP will be in the lineup without any restrictions tomorrow.

New York could desperately use it, especially after dropping two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend to fall 10 games behind in the AL East. The Yankees have been consistently running out the likes of Aaron Hicks, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun, and while Judge’s return won’t singlehandedly give this lineup the depth it needs, it’s hard to overstate his impact — both in terms of his bat and the knock-on effects it has on the offense as a whole. Judge wasn’t on a 62-homer pace, but he looked like his typical self before the injury, slashing .261/.352/.511 with six homers and two steals in 26 games.