Judge healthy, ready for season after injury-plagued 2018

Aaron Judge is healthy and ready for the 2019 season|Art or Photo Credit: AP

New York Yankees All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge is healthy and ready for spring training after an injury-plagued 2018 season, manager Aaron Boone said.

"He's as healthy as he's been probably since he's been in the big leagues," Boone told reporters Sunday.

Position players are due to report Monday to the Yankees' spring training site in Tampa, Fla.

Judge had shoulder surgery before the 2018 season, and was sidelined for eight weeks when he was hit by a pitch on July 26 and suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist.

In all, Judge missed 50 regular-season games in 2018.

"He's so much further ahead of the game from where he was last year," Boone said. "A lot of his winter (last year) was poured into the rehab of the shoulder."

Judge, 26, batted .278 with 27 home runs and 67 RBIs last season. In the postseason, he hit .421 with three home runs in five games.

Judge was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2017 when he slugged a league-leading 52 homers.