The Yankees will be without the game’s most feared slugger for a couple months. New York announced that Aaron Judge has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in the first rib on his right side. He’ll go for follow-up imaging in four to six weeks to gauge his healing and rehab process.
New York announced that Judge is expected back at some point before the end of the season. It’ll almost certainly not be until August at the earliest. He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list before tomorrow’s series opener with the Red Sox and seems likely to wind up on the 60-day IL at some point.
Judge sat out this week’s series against the Guardians. The Yankees announced he was going for testing on a ribcage injury despite feeling the pain mostly in his right shoulder. Fans had some concern when the team sent Judge to a doctor who specializes in treating thoracic outlet syndrome this afternoon. It seems that was to rule out the nerve condition.
Thoracic outlet syndrome would have been the nightmare outcome. A rib fracture seems unlikely to be a career-altering injury. While it’s not a worst case scenario, it’s clearly not good news. It’ll take until around the All-Star Break for the team to even check into the rib’s healing. He’d need to build up baseball activities and live batting practice sessions from there. An absence of this length is also going to require a rehab assignment to get accustomed to game speed.
Judge has felt an increasing amount of discomfort while hitting over the past few weeks. There was no single play this season that caused the injury. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com notes that Judge actually suffered a stress fracture of the same rib and a partially collapsed lung on a diving catch attempt back in 2019. That wasn’t diagnosed until the following March. The pandemic then shut down the sport for a few months, so that injury didn’t cost him any game time.
This injury has clearly weighed on Judge’s performance. He hit .243/.368/.437 with five home runs in May. That’d be a good few weeks for most hitters but was Judge’s lowest OPS in a month since April 2024. He had an OPS north of 1.000 this April, slugging 12 homers through the season’s first five weeks.
The Yankees are also without Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez. Utility players José Caballero and Max Schuemann have started the last three games in right field. They’ll probably bring Spencer Jones back up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre now that a Judge IL stay is confirmed. Domínguez is taking batting practice and could begin a rehab assignment this week. Stanton told Jon Heyman of The New York Post that he’s hoping to be back from a calf strain in about two weeks.
New York led MLB in scoring in May even without a herculean month from the three-time MVP. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger are having fantastic seasons. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has picked things up after a bad start. Paul Goldschmidt, back in the everyday lineup thanks to the Stanton and Domínguez injuries, is having a resurgent year. The bottom third of the order has been an issue, especially Austin Wells behind the plate, but this should still be an above-average lineup.
It’s clearly not going to be as potent without Judge as the anchor though. It’s unlikely this will dramatically change their deadline trajectory, as Domínguez should be back before too long to hold an outfield spot until Judge returns. It could certainly impact a tight division race, with New York holding a half-game advantage over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Wow.
He dodged a bullet by not being diagnosed with TOS.
yeah
Terms of Service? Did he violate a contract ?
that is a huge hit for the Yankees. Rays division to take at this point
The AL just got really interesting. Teams under .500 just became buyers instead of sellers. The Yankees are in a precarious position. Brian Cashman is about to get exposed. Again.
Not a Yankee fan, but it’s always sad to be without one of the game’s top talents
Bummer. At least he’ll be back for the playoffs most likely.
I hate the Yankees but they will not play to their highest level without judge on the field and in the batters box
I second the message!
I speak the truth
We still take the divison. JONES AND DOMINGUEZ PLEASE STEP UP
Jones is not ML ready. He’ll bat .097
If Jones and Dominguez are the answer, I’d rather not know the question.
If the Sports God’s give Knicks a championship. I can deal with this.
Time for Jasson and Spencer to step up or trade them.
It’s Clint Frazier’s time to shine!
Ouch this is terrible for the Yankees. He’s their best hitter so this is bad for their world series contending.
Do you have any sabermetrics or algorithms that show Judge to be the Yankees “best hitter” in 2026? Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger have a higher WAR in 2026.
I am sure by the playoffs they will fade. The Dodgers are just working out until the playoffs. They will have Skubal by that time.
This move doesn’t scare me. They have a great farm system go get Skenes I dare them
The biggest bat in the lineup is shelved and you want to trade for starting pitcher when the team has the best team ERA in the AL. Never change, dude.
He’s not getting moved until after the new CBA.
NOT a yankee fan
But i love watching judge hit bombs
Generational talent
This sucks for baseball
OMG why was last comment on here. Mistake
Riiiiight this way to the Mike Trout Center for brittle beyotches
Good, Ha, Ha!
That escalated fast
Padres fans like this comment pls
Farming for likes on MLB Trade Rumors??
Big dudes always get hurt. Judge for the most part has been ok the past few yrs.
Cashman can now package his best prospects, Lagrange and Lombard, for an over the hill RF.
Not the way I wanted to see his season go or way I wanted to see AL MVP go to someone not named Judge or Ohtani in 2026. Maybe the voters will get nostalgic and give it to Trout!
Yankee fans think the “Martian” will step in and win a triple crown. No worries.
Sign Brunson and Hart and we will be World Series Champs and also OBJ!