Jorge Castillo
Multiple Authors
NEW YORK — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge said the stress fracture in his right rib stems from him diving for a ball in late April and that he played through discomfort for over a month until the pain became unbearable over the weekend in Sacramento.
The three-time American League MVP declined to discuss a timetable for return to play. He will be shut down from baseball activities before undergoing more imaging in four to six weeks. The Yankees expect him to return this season.
“Very disappointed,” Judge said Friday before the Yankees’ series opener against the Boston Red Sox. “That’s why we went through every measure we could to get an expert to take a look to see what was going on in there, but definitely not what you want to hear — any fracture or anything like that.”
Judge underwent X-rays, a CT scan and an MRI this week as the club attempted to pinpoint the injury. He also was evaluated by Dr. Gregory Pearl, a thoracic outlet management specialist. Judge insisted he never thought he was facing a thoracic outlet issue, which would likely have knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
“I kind of felt the symptoms for the past month, and we did everything we could to make sure we could be out there,” Judge said. “In Sacramento, it just got a little worse. So I fought as long as I could.”
Judge said he first felt pain when he attempted a diving catch in shallow right field against the Houston Astros on April 26 — his 34th birthday. He added that crashing into the wall to make a catch in right field May 3 against the Baltimore Orioles “didn’t help.”
He said the pain escalated to the point over the weekend that he limited his swings pregame as he finished the Yankees’ three-game series against the Athletics 2-for-12 at the plate. Judge said he didn’t communicate the injury to manager Aaron Boone until the Sacramento series.
New York general manager Brian Cashman said Judge playing through the injury “probably” made it worse, but Judge said he did not regret staying on the field.
“We got a lot of guys banged up,” Judge said. “You got to be out there. That’s what they’re paying me to do, is to go out there and play.”
Judge said the injury is “near the same spot” as the stress fracture he suffered when he dove for a ball in September 2019. He played with the injury through the end of that season and wasn’t diagnosed with a stress fracture and a partially collapsed lung until March 2020. He didn’t miss any games because the start of the season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judge was batting .275 with 16 home runs and a 1.047 OPS in 43 games through May 12, numbers that lagged his historic production the past two seasons but remained representative of his established standard. But that swiftly changed: In his 16 games after that, he batted .180 with one home run and a .550 OPS in 71 plate appearances.
The Yankees have gone 132-121 without Judge since 2018, when he missed six weeks with a fractured right wrist. They had their best results with him on the injured list the following season, going 43-18 as he missed two months with an oblique injury.
But since 2020 the Yankees are eight games under .500 when he is not in the lineup and 138 games over .500 when he’s in there. In 2023, the Yankees fell apart without him after he tore a ligament in his big right toe crashing into the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium. The Yankees — 35-25 at the time of the injury — went 19-23 with Judge on the injured list. They finished the season 82-80 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2016.
On paper, this year’s team has a deeper lineup with Ben Rice, an early AL MVP candidate, and Cody Bellinger posting All-Star-caliber numbers.
“I think we have a lot of different players that are more than capable,” Cashman said.
Judge started 52 of the Yankees’ first 59 games in right field before missing three consecutive games this week. Rookie Spencer Jones started four games in right field before getting demoted to Triple-A on May 22, Bellinger started two games there, and Randal Grichuk started one before being designated for assignment April 29.
Jones was called up Friday to replace Judge on the active roster and got the start in right field against the Red Sox. The 6-foot-7 slugger, the Yankees’ No. 5 prospect according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, batted .167 with 12 strikeouts and a .426 OPS in 10 games in his first stint with the Yankees.
Other options to play right field currently on the roster include Jose Caballero, Amed Rosario and Max Schuemann. And the Yankees expect more reinforcements soon; Cashman said Jasson Domínguez and Giancarlo Stanton could become options when they return from the injured list.
Domínguez began a rehab assignment Friday as he progresses from a shoulder injury and could return by the end of next week. He has played just one game in right field as a professional, but Cashman said it’s a discussion he has had with the coaching staff. The Yankees could opt to have Domínguez play left field and shift Bellinger to right field.
Stanton hit on the field this week for the first time since sustaining a right calf strain in late April. The slugger played 17 games in the outfield last season when Judge landed on the injured list with a flexor strain in his right elbow and was initially limited to designated hitter when he returned. Cashman said Stanton could be activated in two to three weeks.
“Obviously you’re not going to replace Aaron Judge, and we all know how important he is to our club,” Boone said. “But we’re also very confident in our ability to go out there and absolutely have the expectation to continue to win games.”
