Another Aaron Judge Yankees decision looms large over ALDS

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla.

— Another eve of a playoff round, another day spent with all eyes on Aaron Judge. The Yankees’ three-time MVP took batting practice at Tropicana Field on Friday after working out on the grass at the club’s spring training home in Tampa earlier in the day, as he once again tries to show that he and his right calf are healthy enough to be added to the roster for the ALDS.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Judge’s late push was not enough to be included on the AL wild-card series roster against the Red Sox, but after the Yankees took care of business without him, he seems to have a better shot of joining them against the Rays, even if he is not immediately a full player. “We’re looking at the days and so it’s more, is he going to be available at some point in this series, potentially, as a player?” manager Aaron Boone said Friday afternoon before the Yankees worked out on the turf.

“That’s what we’re kind of weighing and then seeing where he’s at now these last few days having taken live [batting practice].” The schedule could play into Judge’s favor.There are off days after Games 1, 2 and 4 in the best-of-five series, giving him more time to recover from the moderate right calf strain that he suffered Sept.

16.And while the Yankees may not want him playing on the turf at Tropicana Field — they do not seem inclined to use him at DH either, which would force Ben Rice to first base and Luis García Jr.

to the bench — it is possible he could take on the role of Giancarlo Stanton in the wild-card series as a pinch-hit threat in the first two games and then be ready to play right field by Game 3 back in The Bronx. But as was the case for the wild-card series — and Judge’s entire comeback from the calf injury — the Yankees were not offering much insight on how they were leaning. “The trainers will ob...