The waiting game continued Wednesday evening, the story looming over anything that happened on the field for the Yankees.
With so much uncertainty swirling about the status of Aaron Judge, a 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 first pitch was that he wasn’t in the lineup for a second consecutive night.
Judge, who last played Sunday, underwent imaging on the team’s day off Monday, met with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Tuesday and saw a specialist Wednesday.
When manager Aaron Boone met with reporters before the game, the specialist was still reviewing the images, preventing Boone from getting an answer he’d hoped to have at that point.
Judge was left to work out in the weight room, 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 that could threaten to derail the Yankees’ strong start.
And the Yankees were left to tweak their lineup, with José Caballero in right field and Ben Rice as their lineup’s power source.
Asked 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 needed to start 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 opening the game there 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. Rice entered Wednesday’s game with a six-game streak of reaching base multiple times — his second tear of that length this season — and had hit .500 with 11 RBIs across that stretch, adding to his 17 homers and 44 RBIs this season.
“I don’t think he’s stepping into anything,” Boone said of Rice. “Nothing changes. He’s been one of the best players in the league. There’s not a requirement to now do more. It’s not a, ‘He’s gotta go to another level.’ I don’t know where you go.”
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.
His last stint on the IL occurred in July 2025 — and caused him to miss 10 games — due to a flexor strain in his right elbow. 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.
Recently, though, Judge struggled, going just 17-for-82 (.207) across his 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. Boone admitted Wednesday that “I think there is some correlation” between the nagging injury that gradually worsened and the slump.
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“He’s learned how to play through things really well, which is a skill and it requires a skill and a toughness and just a know-how to kind of go through the day and what you need to do to be ready and things like that,” Boone said when asked if Judge’s durability and desire to play every game is a bit of a throwback.
“I think he takes a lot of pride in that durability. He had some injuries earlier in his career that derailed him a number of games, so it’s important that he goes to the post and is available and he’s done a great job of that.”
Boone thought the Yankees were better equipped to handle a Judge absence than they were in past seasons. They failed in their first glimpse of life without Judge. Wednesday gave them another glimpse of how they could initially attempt to survive, regardless of his absence’s length.
