By Anthony Franco | at June 4, 2026 10:10pm CDT
The Yankees will be without the game’s most feared slugger for a couple months. New York announced that Aaron Judge has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in the first rib on his right side. He’ll go for follow-up imaging in four to six weeks to gauge his healing and rehab process.
New York announced that Judge is expected back at some point before the end of the season. It’ll almost certainly not be until August at the earliest. He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list before tomorrow’s series opener with the Red Sox and seems likely to wind up on the 60-day IL at some point.
Judge sat out this week’s series against the Guardians. The Yankees announced he was going for testing on a ribcage injury despite feeling the pain mostly in his right shoulder. Fans had some concern when the team sent Judge to a doctor who specializes in treating thoracic outlet syndrome this afternoon. It seems that was to rule out the nerve condition.
Thoracic outlet syndrome would have been the nightmare outcome. A rib fracture seems unlikely to be a career-altering injury. While it’s not a worst case scenario, it’s clearly not good news. It’ll take until around the All-Star Break for the team to even check into the rib’s healing. He’d need to build up baseball activities and live batting practice sessions from there. An absence of this length is also going to require a rehab assignment to get accustomed to game speed.
Judge has felt an increasing amount of discomfort while hitting over the past few weeks. There was no single play this season that caused the injury. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com notes that Judge actually suffered a stress fracture of the same rib and a partially collapsed lung on a diving catch attempt back in 2019. That wasn’t diagnosed until the following March. The pandemic then shut down the sport for a few months, so that injury didn’t cost him any game time.
This injury has clearly weighed on Judge’s performance. He hit .243/.368/.437 with five home runs in May. That’d be a good few weeks for most hitters but was Judge’s lowest OPS in a month since April 2024. He had an OPS north of 1.000 this April, slugging 12 homers through the season’s first five weeks.
The Yankees are also without Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez. Utility players José Caballero and Max Schuemann have started the last three games in right field. They’ll probably bring Spencer Jones back up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre now that a Judge IL stay is confirmed. Domínguez is taking batting practice and could begin a rehab assignment this week. Stanton told Jon Heyman of The New York Post that he’s hoping to be back from a calf strain in about two weeks.
New York led MLB in scoring in May even without a herculean month from the three-time MVP. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger are having fantastic seasons. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has picked things up after a bad start. Paul Goldschmidt, back in the everyday lineup thanks to the Stanton and Domínguez injuries, is having a resurgent year. The bottom third of the order has been an issue, especially Austin Wells behind the plate, but this should still be an above-average lineup.
It’s clearly not going to be as potent without Judge as the anchor though. It’s unlikely this will dramatically change their deadline trajectory, as Domínguez should be back before too long to hold an outfield spot until Judge returns. It could certainly impact a tight division race, with New York holding a half-game advantage over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Wow.
He dodged a bullet by not being diagnosed with TOS.
yeah
Terms of Service? Did he violate a contract ?
Or TDS.
that is a huge hit for the Yankees. Rays division to take at this point
The AL just got really interesting. Teams under .500 just became buyers instead of sellers. The Yankees are in a precarious position. Brian Cashman is about to get exposed. Again.
Whichever team decides to sign Castellanos will be a lock to lose the East.
Feel like that statement is selling the Yankees rotation short. All 5, soon to be 6, pitchers give them a strong chance to win every day even if the offense was poor, which it won’t be, despite being wounded.
That’s fair. Their rotation is legit. But can anyone, and I mean ANYONE, picture the Yankees as a small-ball offense with an emphasis on run prevention? They just haven’t done that and they aren’t set up to make that transition.
I’m not a Yankee hater. Not at all. But Aaron Judge has single handedly made them seem like a better team than they are for a few years now.
The small ball has been happening much more this year. Caballero is really establishing himself as an every day player even when he’s not at SS (where he should be). Watching rice every day it’s clear he’s legit. He worked extremely hard on becoming a complete hitter, he’s using the whole field and swinging for situations rather than just for fences. Belli and goldy are professional hitters. Jazz is a top tier base-stealer for all his faults. Dominguez is also a plus baserunner and solid if unspectacular hitter. I don’t love the all glove no hit at catcher and 3B but it’s better than nothing at all I guess?
I have nothing but respect for Caballero. Rice is a great player, but he doesn’t offer much proof of small ball concept. Belli and Goldy are professional hitters, but again, they don’t add much to the small ball/run prevention approach. They were both very good defenders and base runners at one point in their careers, and they remain smart, opportunistic ballplayers, but it’s not enough to move the needle. Jazz is a fine athlete who could fit the concept if he was motivated to do so.
None of it is enough to overcome the loss of Aaron Judge.
Not a Yankee fan, but it’s always sad to be without one of the game’s top talents
Bummer. At least he’ll be back for the playoffs most likely.
I hate the Yankees but they will not play to their highest level without judge on the field and in the batters box
I second the message!
I speak the truth
We still take the divison. JONES AND DOMINGUEZ PLEASE STEP UP
Jones is not ML ready. He’ll bat .097
He does have 13 HR and a .371 OBP at AAA. That little audition is not enough, They need to stick him in the lineup every day and let him adjust.
If Jones and Dominguez are the answer, I’d rather not know the question.
You’ve got to be a Rays fan to say the Division is theirs- Both the orioles and the Jays have been decimated with injuries and there’s 2/3 of the season to go. If Judge is out for six weeks , this division is anyone’s to take . After the month of June, maybe even the middle of July, we’ll see how it things are shaking out…!!!
If the Sports God’s give Knicks a championship. I can deal with this.
lmao that’s how I feel about my Mets being hot garbage this year. Let’s go Knicks!
Not a fan of any New York team but it is kinda wholesome that Yankees and Mets fans can come together for Knicks.
Time for Jasson and Spencer to step up or trade them.
It’s Clint Frazier’s time to shine!
Ouch this is terrible for the Yankees. He’s their best hitter so this is bad for their world series contending.
Do you have any sabermetrics or algorithms that show Judge to be the Yankees “best hitter” in 2026? Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger have a higher WAR in 2026.
You are high on your own supply if you think Judge isn’t the Yankees best hitter. But yes I suppose the stats back up Rice being better for the first 3 months of the season.
They also showed Shane Spencer being the best Yankees hitter for a two month period in 98. Not saying Rice is Spencer just pointing out that Judges track record is on another level compared to Rice.
I am sure by the playoffs they will fade. The Dodgers are just working out until the playoffs. They will have Skubal by that time.
This move doesn’t scare me. They have a great farm system go get Skenes I dare them
The biggest bat in the lineup is shelved and you want to trade for starting pitcher when the team has the best team ERA in the AL. Never change, dude.
He’s not getting moved until after the new CBA.
What? The Pirates are legit, why would they trade Skenes in the middle of a playoff race? And who the heck do the Yankees have that could make that worth it
NOT a yankee fan
But i love watching judge hit bombs
Generational talent
This sucks for baseball
OMG why was last comment on here. Mistake
Riiiiight this way to the Mike Trout Center for brittle beyotches
Good, Ha, Ha!
That escalated fast
Padres fans like this comment pls
Farming for likes on MLB Trade Rumors??
Big dudes always get hurt. Judge for the most part has been ok the past few yrs.
Cashman can now package his best prospects, Lagrange and Lombard, for an over the hill RF.
Not the way I wanted to see his season go or way I wanted to see AL MVP go to someone not named Judge or Ohtani in 2026. Maybe the voters will get nostalgic and give it to Trout!
Yankee fans think the “Martian” will step in and win a triple crown. No worries.
Sign Brunson and Hart and we will be World Series Champs and also OBJ!
He hasn’t hit in over two weeks. If he was in any pain at all, they probably should’ve taken some MRIs to see if the pain and his slump were related. Shades of when Rizzo couldn’t keep track of how many outs there were, after he took a knee to the head. And the doctors never thought his slump and his brain deficiencies (for lack of a better term) might be related.
Baseball losing one of its biggest stars for the summer.
Judge is a good dude. Hope he’s back soon and at 100%.
Need the captain to heal up but the division is still very winnable with the ridiculous starting rotation. The main moves to be made are catcher/3B/bullpen. I believe in Dominguez offensively, obviously he’s not judge but he’ll help. I get that McMahon and wells are excellent defensively, but idk that we can carry 2 of that player in the same lineup, especially minus judge.
Ahh, just rub some ‘Tussin on it and run him back out there in about 3 weeks.
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Aaron Judge Diagnosed With Rib Stress Fracture, Reevaluated In 4-6 Weeks – MLB Trade Rumors
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