NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hopes to talk his way onto the New York Yankees roster for the AL Wild Card Series and into the starting lineup against the Boston Red Sox.
Sidelined since Sept. 16 by a strained right calf, the Yankees captain planned to take batting practice on the field Monday, a day ahead of the series opener.
“I’ve been doing a lot of convincing, I feel like, so I’m going to keep doing that,” he said. “The most important thing is just making sure I’m healthy and ready to go for this long stretch. We've got another month of baseball to play.”
A three-time AL MVP, the 34-year-old slugger had a platelet-poor plasma injection Sept. 21. He was sidelined by a fractured rib from May 31 to Sept. 8 and played in just seven games before the latest injury.
“He’s making progress. We’ll continue to see where he’s at,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Speaking in front of his locker, a diamond-and-garnet pendant of a judge’s gavel hanging from his neck, the outfielder said he hasn't run the bases since the injury but had been working on an AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill.
“I’ve been hitting for a while, so it feels great, which is definitely a big step forward because you kind of produce a lot of weight on that back leg,” he said.
Judge was limited to 66 games this season. He hit .241 with 18 homers, 41 RBIs and an .871 OPS, including .174 with one homer and three RBIs in September.
He hopes not to be limited to designated hitter — teammate Ben Rice was the DH in 96 games.
"I’m trying to come back as an outfielder because I think it helps our team the most, but however they see I fit in the best, I am going to try to do that," Judge said.
Judge didn't express concern about trying for a quick return from an injury to his soleus muscle, which is part of the Achilles tendon.
“Guys take risks every single day. I know a lot of guys in here are banged up and dealing with stuff,” he said. "So, yeah, I understand the risks."
In his 11th big league season and still without a World Series title, Judge is sensing the passage of time as motivation for pushing to get back on the field.
“The biggest thing is just understanding how short I get. The time I get to be a Yankee and play this game of baseball is a very short window,” he said. “Ten years have gone by since I debuted out here. Time flies and I just think about that more than thinking about age. I feel like I’ll still be a good baseball player at 45. So, yeah, it’s more just, your window to play this game is short so you don’t want to miss an opportunity."
Giancarlo Stanton, out since April 24 because of strained calf muscles in both legs, also is a roster possibility along with center fielder Trent Grisham, sidelined since straining his right hamstring on Sept. 4, and left-hander Ryan Weathers, who hasn't pitched since Aug. 22 because of a left forearm flexor strain.
“There’s a few roster decisions still that we keep kind of bouncing back and forth, thinking about lineup construction," Boone said. "So those are still things that I’m wrestling with to some degree. Ultimately, we’ve got to settle on it tomorrow and go let it rip.”
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge walks back to the dugout after the bottom of the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Injured New York Yankees' Aaron Judge sits with teammates in the dugout during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A leader of a secretive North Carolina religious group was sentenced Monday to two years of probation in a plea deal that dropped a felony kidnapping charge, more than nine years after her trial ended without a verdict.
Prosecutors said Word of Faith Fellowship leader Brooke Covington led a group of church members in 2013 who choked and beat a young man for two hours while they prayed to expel “homosexual demons.”
Covington, 68, pleaded to two misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and simple assault Monday by entering an Alford plea, according to court records. It's technically a guilty plea in which defendants maintain they are innocent while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them at trial.
The judge sentenced Covington to 45 days in jail on the false imprisonment charge and 30 days for simple assault, but suspended them so she won't have to serve the time if she completes her probation. Covington also was ordered to complete 30 hours of community service benefiting children or young adults.
Covington's original case ended in a mistrial after the jury foreman brought his own research into deliberations.
Since then, the COVID-19 outbreak, a move to remove the original prosecutor that ended with the suspension of the law license of the attorney making the request, deaths or retirements of lawyers on both sides and handing the case to a new prosecutor in a new jurisdiction all delayed a new trial.
Both the new prosecutor and Covington's lawyer didn't respond to messages seeking details about Monday's hearing.
Matthew Fenner joined Word of Faith as a teenager in 2010 with his mother. He was at a service on the church’s compound in Spindale, North Carolina, when members including Covington started what the church called a “blasting” session on him, according to Fenner.
Covington said the session was no different than others, and she had witnesses prepared to testify they didn't see an assault against Fenner.
Word of Faith is a nondenominational Protestant church that was founded in 1979 by Sam and Jane Whaley in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlotte and Asheville. Members consider Jane Whaley a prophet.
In 2017, The Associated Press published a series of stories about Word of Faith that detailed former church members’ allegations of abuse. The AP spoke to dozens of former congregants around the world, listened to hours of secretly recorded conversations with church leaders, and reviewed hundreds of pages of law enforcement, court and child welfare documents.
Whaley has denied that she or other church leaders ever abused Word of Faith members, and said that any discipline would be protected by the Constitution’s freedom of religion tenet.
The church said the allegations made to the AP were false and made by “certain former members” out to target the church and that it does not condone abuse.
The case was turned over to a special prosecutor after Fenner’s lawyer accused District Attorney Ted Bell of siding with Word of Faith in his handling of the case.
Attorney Andrew LaBreche said Bell didn’t investigate new evidence or witnesses and made a deal to drop the felony kidnapping charge against Covington.
Bell provided text messages and other evidence he refused to talk to Word of Faith members when they tried to steer conversations toward the assault cases.
Superior Court Judge William Stetzer not only denied LaBreche’s request to remove the prosecutor, but in his order said LaBreche’s “repeated acts of dishonesty and the significant harm to the legal profession” led the judge to suspend his law license for three years. He also awarded Bell legal fees.
LaBreche is appealing the ruling, and his suspension has been delayed until his case can be heard.
Word of Faith had about 700 members in North Carolina a decade ago, but a sworn statement from a former church leader said membership had now dwindled to about 300 to 400 people.
The AP reported that the church controlled almost every aspect of their members’ lives, including who they married, what subjects they studied in school and whether they could go to college. Members were regularly slapped, choked and thrown to the floor during high-decibel group prayer.
The AP investigation also found that the church and its hundreds of followers controlled local law enforcement and social services, preventing fair investigations.
FILE - This image from video shows the entrance to the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale, N.C., in 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz, File)
FILE - Brooke Covington, a member of the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindle, N.C., leaves a hearing at Rutherford County Courthouse in Rutherfordton, N.C., May 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek, File)
