The Yankees will be without the game’s most feared reliever for several months. New York announced that Aaron is the judge it was found that he had a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. He will go for follow-up photos in four to six weeks to measure his healing and rehabilitation process.
New York announced that Judge is expected to return sometime before the end of the season. It probably won’t be until August at the earliest. He will be placed on the 10-day disabled list before the start of tomorrow’s series against the Red Sox and appears likely to end up on the 60-day IL at some point.
The judge sits in this week’s series against the Guardians. The Yankees announced that he will be evaluated for a ribcage injury despite experiencing severe pain in his right shoulder. Fans had some concerns when the team sent Judge to a doctor who specializes in treating thoracic outlet syndrome this afternoon. It seems like that was to get rid of the mood.
Thoracic outlet syndrome would be the worst outcome. A rib fracture seems unlikely to be a career-changing injury. While it’s not the worst case scenario, it’s clearly not good news. It will take until the All-Star Break for the team to assess how the rib has healed. You will need to build baseball careers and live batting practice sessions from there. The absence of this length will also require a refresh rate to get used to the speed of the game.
Judge felt a growing sense of uneasiness when he hit a few weeks ago. Not a single game this season has resulted in an injury. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com notes that Judge actually suffered a stress fracture of the same rib and a partially collapsed lung while attempting a diving catch in 2019. That was not discovered until the following March. The epidemic then shut down the sport for several months, so that injury did not cost him any playing time.
This injury clearly limited Judge’s performance. He hit .243/.368/.437 with five home runs in May. That would be a good couple of weeks for most hitters but it was Judge’s lowest OPS in a month since April 2024. He had an OPS north of 1.000 this April, hitting 12 homers in the first five weeks of the season.
Neither do the Yankees Giancarlo Stanton again Jason Domínguez. Utility players José Caballero again Max Schuemann they started the last three games in right field. They will probably deliver Spencer Jones supports Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre now that Judge IL’s tenure has been confirmed. Domínguez is taking batting practice and could begin rehab this week. Stanton told Jon Heyman of the New York Post that he hopes to return from the calf problem in two weeks.
New York led MLB in scoring in May even without a herculean month from the three-time MVP. Ben Rice again Cody Bellinger they have good times. Jazz Chisholm Jr. picked things up after a bad start. Paul Goldschmidtback in the everyday lineup due to injuries to Stanton and Domínguez, is having a resurgent year. The bottom third of the order has been a problem, in particular Austin Wells behind the plate, but this should still be an above-average lineup.
Obviously there would be no power without a Judge as an anchor though. It is unlikely that this will significantly change their schedule, as Domínguez should return much earlier to hold the field position until Judge returns. It could factor into a tight division race, with New York holding a half-game advantage over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
