One of the biggest roster questions heading into the 2020 MLB season for the Yankees was whether or not Aaron Judge would be available for manager Aaron Boone on Opening Day.

With "Summer Camp" set to start this week, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters on Tuesday that as of right now, Judge should be good to go when New York takes on the Washington Nationals on July 23.

"We’re very optimistic as of right now that maybe his proclamation that he would be ready for Opening Day and in the lineup will ring true," Cashman said, pointing to Judge saying he should be good for the start of the season.

The last time Cashman spoke about Judge's Opening Day status it wasn't too promising because of his vague "summertime" comment in reference to being game-ready.

Well, it's the summer and that's the obvious next step for Judge in Cashman's eyes.

"He’s essentially doing all physical activity, so now it comes down to game reps and facing live pitching and seeing if he’s in game shape," he said.

Judge has been rehabbing his rib stress fracture and shoulder injury throughout spring training and during these off months when everyone was waiting for the game to return. He has been in Tampa at George M. Steinbrenner field working through his throwing and hitting programs to gear up for the season.

The reason Judge has been behind players like Giancarlo Stanton, James Paxton and Aaron Hicks in terms of recovery is because of a particular blood flow that was being blocked by his injury. Cashman touched on it a few months back.

"Ultimately, the broken rib that Aaron Judge suffered, it's in an area that the blood flow to that region is more difficult," Cashman said. "Blood flow is a significant part of the healing, so that's why the time frame is longer. When it happened, I always felt that we wouldn't see Judge more likely until the summertime."

If Judge can't return in time for Opening Day, the Yankees do have a plethora of options like Clint Frazier and Mike Tauchman to spend time in right field while he continues to recover.

But going based off Judge's comments and now Cashman's, it appears the All-Star slugger will be a part of Boone's Opening Day lineup.

Intrasquad and intersquad scrimmages in the coming weeks will be a better determiner of that, though.

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