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Aaron Judge finally threw to bases — actually just second base — but there remains no verdict on when that will actually happen in a game.

Nearly five hours before first pitch Sunday, Judge was in right field at Yankee Stadium taking the next step in his throwing program on the way back from a right flexor strain, fielding balls and throwing to second base or a cutoff man for around 5-10 minutes.

The reigning AL MVP said it was higher intensity than his previous catch play — he had been stretched out to 150 feet for more than a week — but he was by no means going full bore.

The Yankees are still trying to figure out when the right time is to have Judge begin playing the field again without putting him at a high risk of reinjuring himself.

“I think that’s the name of the game right now, is making sure I can push the volume, push the level of it [but] also make sure I’m recovered enough to go out there and keep pushing it the next day,” Judge said. “Our training staff does a great job with that, so they’re helping me try to get out there as fast as I can. I think they all know I want to be back out there.”

Judge called the waiting game “brutal” before he served as DH again in the Yankees’ 7-2 victory in the series finale against the Red Sox, with Giancarlo Stanton starting in right field for the third time in four games — a situation that also comes with an injury risk, with the Yankees having to decide between the lesser of two evils as they chase a playoff spot.

“The bottom line is, we want to do this the right way,” manager Aaron Boone said. “As much as he wants to be out there and we want him out there, we want to do everything possible to put ourselves in the best position to not re-injure this. As the progression goes, his body will tell us. But today was another good step forward.”

The Yankees typically treat Judge’s injury status like a state secret — which is what made Boone’s slip-up earlier this week notable, when he said the captain would probably not be throwing like he normally does when he returns, which seemed to bother Judge and later had Boone backtracking.

So it is possible that he could just show up in the lineup with an “RF” next to his name some day this week without any announcement beforehand.

But otherwise, there is little indication that Judge is on the verge of a return.

Judge, who went 0-for-3 Sunday, deferred to trainers — who are not made available to reporters — when asked how many days he would have to throw to bases before being cleared to play right field.

He described Sunday’s development as “just checking a box” and said it was “the same thing” as playing catch at 150 feet.

“It’s more about trying to make sure he’s in a position to continue to heal and not hurt himself,” Boone said. “Throwing is not the only part of his game that makes him really good out there. I don’t know at what level when we initially get him back into a game, but we know we want to make sure he’s got every opportunity to be in a position to continue to heal as he goes but also protect from injury, too.”

As it is, Judge can certainly move around better in right field than Stanton, but it is clear the Yankees are not yet ready to test his arm.

Meanwhile, they are already wary of pushing the 35-year-old Stanton too hard in right field — which led to his being out of the lineup for an entire series against the Cardinals last weekend — and risking losing his bat altogether.

“We’ve got to be mindful of it,” Boone said. “[Stanton] is too important to us moving forward to, just because — we’re not at that point in the season where today starts or ends our season. So as much as we are at the homestretch and back half of the calendar with the playoffs on the line, we still have to with him, a little bit, play the long game, especially considering how important he is to the lineup.”

The same could be said for Judge, who does not like being limited to just hitting.

“I’m a ballplayer,” Judge said. “I want to play both sides of the ball. I want to be out there making plays on defense, helping our team out. I know hitting’s important and all that, but I feel like I can impact the team on both sides. Can’t wait to get back out there.”