NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are still holding their breath regarding star right fielder Aaron Judge.
Judge will see a specialist Wednesday for another opinion on the bone bruise on his upper right rib that held him out of Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.
Judge had been dealing with “nagging soreness” in the area for a couple of weeks, and it got worse over the weekend against the Athletics in Sacramento, manager Aaron Boone said. Team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad examined Judge on Tuesday night, and his findings were “in line with what the imaging (showed),” Boone said.
The Yankees “want a specialist to look at it, too, to kind of rule out anything else or see if there’s anything else to see,” Boone said.
The Yankees still consider Judge’s status as “day to day,” the manager added. But don’t read too much into the Yankees not putting Judge on the injured list yet, Boone said. A decision on whether Judge will play could come down to whether he feels good enough to do it.
Before Tuesday’s game, Boone said the Yankees thought it was “overall good news” that Judge has only a bone bruise.
Judge went 2-for-12 (.167) during the three-game set versus the Athletics, when the pain started getting worse.
The injury is affecting how Judge swings but not how he throws, Boone said. Judge did not appear in the Yankees’ clubhouse before or after the game when reporters were allowed access, but he was in the dugout for a portion of Tuesday’s game.
José Caballero started in right field in place of Judge, whose injury timeline lines up with his recent struggles. Since May 17, Judge has hit .163 with one home run and eight RBIs over 13 games.
He has hit well overall this season, but nothing like his typical best-in-the-game production. Going into Tuesday, his .908 OPS was 13th best in the majors, and his 17 home runs were tied for the fourth most.
His .248 batting average is well below his MLB-best .331 mark from last season and his .322 average in 2024. After playing just 106 games in 2023, Judge has been something of an ironman for the Yankees, appearing in 158 games in 2024 and 152 games in 2025. He missed 10 games last year with a right flexor tendon strain.
Neither the Yankees nor Judge has been able to pinpoint whether the rib injury happened on a specific play or during a particular game, though Boone acknowledged it “could have been when he dove at some point” trying to make a catch.
“It’s probably been something that’s been affecting him here recently and especially (last) weekend,” Boone said. “Hopefully, it’s something that we just get calmed down here.”
This is not Judge’s first rib injury.
In March 2020, doctors discovered a stress fracture in his right first rib and a partially collapsed lung stemming from a dive he made in a game the prior September. He was shut down for two weeks, but the season was delayed until July because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boone said it was “tough to say” whether there was any correlation between that injury and this one.
If Judge needs to miss significant time, the Yankees’ options to replace him are questionable.
Caballero is a career infielder. They could shift left fielder Cody Bellinger to right field when Jasson Domínguez (left shoulder AC joint sprain) returns from the IL. But Domínguez might not even begin a rehab assignment until Friday, Boone said. Amed Rosario, another career infielder, has light outfield experience. The light-hitting Max Schuemann is another candidate.
Top prospect Spencer Jones struck out 12 times in 27 plate appearances following his MLB debut in May, though much of his playing time was intermittent. He entered Tuesday with a .954 OPS in 39 games at Triple A.
