​“The best hitter in the world,” as his manager called him, returned to the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night for the first time since late May. What a compliment it is to Aaron Judge that Aaron Boone was neither pandering nor exaggerating with that description.When Judge is healthy, he is the best hitter in the world. Since the start of the 2021 season, no one in baseball has a higher wRC+ or OPS. In both categories, no one is even within 25 points.  Judge has missed significant parts of multiple seasons in that span — including more than half of this one — and still leads the majors in home runs in the last five-plus seasons, a period that included peak Shohei Ohtani and a usually healthy Kyle Schwarber. So his return from a stress fracture in his ribs should make a major difference to the Yankees, who would probably have been content to be where they are in the standings even if they had not been without him for 84 games in the middle of the summer. All of the cliches about Yankees’ championship standards aside, many excellent teams have found themselves three games back in the American League East in early September. The Yankees were 12 games over .500 before Judge’s injury. Despite two and a half months of sometimes stunning offensive inefficiency, they were seven games over .500 without him. “We hung in there,” Boone said, though it should be noted that only two other American League teams have “hung in there” enough to be seven games over .500 all season.“Not only is it [Judge] and what he brings offensively, but there is an effect around him — netting better opportunities, better at-bats for everybody, especially over the course of time. I feel like the guys have done a good job of winning games, especially on days and weeks where it’s been a struggle.” Indeed, after leading the American League in OPS before Judge’s injury, the Yankees were 27th in baseball during the three months after. They scored five runs on average with him in the lineup and around four without him. Tuesday, even largely without his help, they beat the Rockies 5-3. “It’s hard to quantify, but you take the best hitter in the world out of your lineup, that’s pretty significant,” Boone said. Judge was only in the lineup for three at-bats and six innings Tuesday because the Yankees are going to build him up to a full nine innings over the next few days — but even his limited return rightfully qualified as spectacle. Cameras huddled around the entrance to the dugout waiting for him during batting practice. Not many fans were in the ballpark by the time he did, but the ones who were mustered a small cheer. Boone leaned on a bat nearby, visibly holding back a smile as Judge marched by the cameras without one. Judge plays the part of superhero here. If he is somehow mortal behind the scenes, Boone and the Yankees respect him too much to spoil the legend. 
/ IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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