New York Yankees' Aaron Judge Reports are Conflicting

New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has been activated from the injured list after being sidelined over three months with a rib stress fracture. That much, we know.

But how the Yankees will actually integrate Judge back into the lineup is a mystery.

There have been conflicting reports on how New York plans on using the slugger. The prevailing thought has been that the Yankees will play him between five and seven innings a night when he first returns just to see how he feels. Aaron Boone himself alluded to that.

However, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic doesn't seem to be under that impression.

“Talking to Aaron Boone, he doesn’t sound inclined to play him three innings one night, five innings the next, he wants to play Judge as much as he can and maybe give him a day off the game after he plays,” Rosenthal said. “So it’s going to be really interesting to see how the Yankees handle this."

ESPN's Buster Olney, on the other hand, believes that New York will play Judge for around half the game, then pull him.

“He’s got about 19 games to get his swing back before the start of the postseason, and they’re going to handle it like spring training where they’re going to keep him in the game for 5 or 6 innings, pull him out, make sure that he’s OK," Olney said. "Check with him on a daily basis, see how many plate appearances he needs because they’re looking ahead."

What the Yankees actually decide to do with Judge remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the Yanks now have their captain back.

And while Judge hasn't played since May 31, I really don't think it's going to take him that long to get back into the swing of things.

The 34-year-old refused a rehab assignment because he didn't want to waste at-bats in the minor leagues. While that may sound counterproductive, I get it.

Remember: last year when Giancarlo Stanton returned after missing the first half of the campaign due to elbow issues, he only played three minor-league games before jumping straight back into the lineup and raking to the tune of a .944 OPS.

And that was in the summer rather than over the final couple of weeks of the season.

So you can understand why Judge would just want to jump right back in and play with the big-league club rather than spend time down in the minors in the heat of a pennant race. Realistically speaking, what would nine at-bats in Triple-A do for him?

Judge will debut against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, and while he may be a bit rusty, you can bet that the entire atmosphere at Yankee Stadium will feel different.