Since May 31, the Yankees have been playing without Aaron Judge, their three-time American League MVP, following a fractured rib. Although definitive schedules regarding his comeback to the New York batting order remain hard to pinpoint, Judge reconfirmed on Wednesday his expectation of playing again this year. Crucially, he also shared with journalists that medical staff have authorized him to engage in “light activity” and start a running program.
“I only had the imaging done yesterday,” remarked Judge (per SNY). “As soon as they told me, ‘Okay, we are going to begin running,’ my response was, ‘Alright, I’ll meet you out on the field.'”
According to Newsday, New York manager Aaron Boone additionally informed the press that besides running, Judge has been greenlit to start upper-body resistance training in the gym.
While these workouts are far less demanding on his ribs than throwing or taking batting practice, any type of physical exertion represents a positive step. Prior to this, he was completely restricted from all athletic workouts. The continued absence of an official recovery window—even a broad estimate like “four to six weeks”—remains somewhat discouraging, yet it seems evident that Judge is moving in the right direction toward his comeback.
Whenever he was healthy from 2022 to 2024, the 34-year-old outfielder stood out as the premier batter in major league baseball, slashing .311/.439/.677 (good for a 208 OPS+) across that three-year span, which equates to a 162-game pace of 59 homers and 131 runs driven in. Before landing on the injured list this year, his numbers had dipped slightly to a .248/.375/.533 slash line—though that still represented a superb 151 OPS+ (marking performance 51% better than the league average when adjusted for stadiums). In the 59 matchups he played prior to his injury, he had already slugged 17 home runs.
New York held a 36-23 record at the time of his injury, but they have posted a mediocre 28-27 mark since then leading up to Wednesday’s matchup. Producing runs has proved challenging with Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and recently Cody Bellinger all sidelined on the injured list. Prior to Judge’s absence, the team was putting up an average of 5.17 runs per contest. In his absence, that offensive output has plummeted to just 3.93 runs per matchup.
