Aaron Boone reveals strange plan for Yankees' Aaron Judge amid arm strength concerns

Matt Sullivan

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Aaron Boone reveals strange plan for Yankees' Aaron Judge amid arm strength concerns image

The New York Yankees have an issue in the outfield that needs to be figured out. While Aaron Judge is back in right field, there is real concern that Judge can't make the throws needed of him in right field.

Amid those concerns, Yankees manager Aaron Boone needs to decide whether Judge will stick in right field or change things up to accommodate Judge.

Ahead of the Yankees' second game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Boone revealed his plan for Judge in right field, and it's a strange one.

Aaron Boone's Strange Aaron Judge Outfield Strategy

According to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Boone revealed a strange plan to make sure Judge can still play right field while dealing with a weaker arm.

"Aaron Boone said the Yankees have been working on 'creative cuts' to accommodate Aaron Judge in the outfield," Hoch writes, "essentially cutting down the distance he'd need for any throws."

While this decision should, in theory, allow for Judge to stick in right field, there will be plenty of situations where Judge will need to make longer throws, even with these creative cuts.

He already had a moment in the first game back in right field, where normally he'd cut down a baserunner trying for home, and instead could only hit the cutoff man right in front of him.

His arm strength isn't fully back yet, and Boone is planning to incorporate unique cutoff situations to accommodate Judge in right field. While the jury is still out on whether it will be effective or not, the decision is an interesting one.

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Playing Judge in the outfield will improve the defense overall, but his arm strength is a massive liability. Boone plans to utilize more cut-off men in different positions to help Judge play a more effective right field without taxing his arm.

Judge made his first start in right field since late July on September 5th, and it didn't go well from the first inning, as he allowed a runner to score that normally, he normally could have thrown out.

If Judge continues to play in right field, the team will continue to be aggressive baserunners on balls hit his way. Boone's answer is to incorporate more creative cutoffs to try and alleviate the pressure on Judge to make throws from right field.

Time will tell if this decision works for the Yankees, but for now, there is still concern over whether the decision to play Judge in right field is worth it for the Yankees if he's going to struggle throwing the ball back to the infield.

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Matt Sullivan

Matt Sullivan is a freelance writer for The Sporting News, predominantly covering MLB. Matt is a native of Pennsylvania and has worked with Athlon Sports, Last Word on Sports, and other outlets.