With so much uncertainty swirling about the status of Aaron Judge, the bone bruise near his right rib cage that’s impacting his swing and how much time the Yankees’ superstar could miss, the only thing that’d become certain by the end of Wednesday night was that the waiting game continued into Thursday.
Judge, who was out of the lineup for a second consecutive game during the Yankees’ 5-4 loss to the Guardians, saw a specialist Wednesday who confirmed what the Yankees had seen to this point with his injury, manager Aaron Boone said.
But Judge is going back for “more high-power, more specific” tests around the rib and chest area to get a “really strong diagnosis of things.”
“We just want clarity on what exactly we’re dealing with,” Boone said. “Then we can set the course of action and kind of have an idea of what the timeline’s gonna be.”
So when the Yankees left the ballpark after a second consecutive loss, Judge remained off the injured list, but the additional testing certainly cast an ominous tone about the status of their superstar.
Judge last played in a game Sunday, underwent imaging on the team’s day off Monday and met with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Tuesday before the specialist got involved.
He was left to work out in the weight room Wednesday, get treatment and await his fate — whether this was a best-case scenario that didn’t involve the injured list, a short stint on the IL or something more long term.
The Yankees were left to tweak their lineup, with José Caballero in right field and Ben Rice as their lineup’s power source.
Asked before the game how long the Yankees would go without Judge being an option before making a transaction, Boone said he didn’t know.
“It kind of depends on probably this diagnosis with the doctors and seeing where he’s at [Wednesday] and [Thursday],” Boone said.
So the Yankees needed to pivot again. They started Caballero in right field again, a spot the utilityman, who Boone said the Yankees “trust in a lot of places,” hadn’t played since September before Monday.
They needed to rely on Rice, in just his second full MLB season, as their lineup’s anchor, banking on the lefty slugger’s ability to adapt if pitchers approach him differently without Judge lurking in the on-deck circle.
Caballero homered and singled, while Rice wasn’t able to add to his 17 homers and 44 RBIs but did rip a double as one of the Yankees’ five hits.
Boone and the Yankees hoped initially that Judge, someone they’ve struggled without in recent seasons, could miss only a few days and that they avoided anything serious. With each added day of testing and consultations, that feels more and more distant.
Judge’s last stint on the IL occurred in July 2025 due to a flexor strain in his right elbow that caused him to miss 10 games. He also missed more than a month in 2023 with a torn ligament in his big right toe. It forced the Yankees to find ways to cobble together production to replace the three-time American League MVP, who also won the AL batting title last year (.331 average) and has collected another 17 homers to start 2026.
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Recently, though, Judge struggled, going just 17-for-82.
(.207) across his past 22 games prior to Tuesday with 26 strikeouts. His average dipped to .248. He collected just six extra-base hits across that stretch and launched just one homer since May 11.
Judge went a career-worst 11 games without an RBI last month too. It was a concerning stretch, even for one of the sport’s best hitters, and Boone admitted Wednesday that “I think there is some correlation” between the nagging injury that gradually worsened and the slump.
Boone thought the Yankees were better equipped to handle a Judge absence than they were in past seasons.
They failed in their first two glimpses of life without Judge. And the looming question of just how long they’ll need to survive without him was punted to the next day.
“You don’t want to see any player get hurt, right?” Gerrit Cole said. “Aaron, obviously, means a lot to us and just plays great baseball all the time and brings great energy, so, you know, it’s tough when guys get hurt. But unfortunately, it’s part of the game and as a team, you gotta figure out how to step up in those situations.
“So that’s what we’ll do.”