Aug 4, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right field Aaron Judge (99) looks out during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Injured Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was finally given the green light to resume light activity, including outdoor running and upper-body resistance training.
“I’ll be back this season,” Judge said. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t be. That was always the plan, to come back sooner than later, definitely. I never had a thought of not playing this year.”
The Bronx Bombers’ captain has been out since May 31 with a fractured rib and has not swung a bat since then. He underwent scans on Tuesday, which showed enough healing to finally take the next step in his rehab. He worked out at Yankee Stadium before Wednesday’s matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“It’s an important part of his progression to get back with us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s good to see him with his pinstripes on and cleats, heading out onto the field.”
Judge said that he initially suffered the injury on April 26, then attempted to tough it out for over a month. He was placed on the 10-day IL on June 5 and was later transferred to the 60-day IL. At this rate, a September return could be in the cards, but he would need to be asymptomatic before getting another round of reimaging, which does not appear to be the case.
“I’ve got a broken rib, so you’re going to feel it,” Judge said. “But it’s healing up. That’s the progress we want to see. So we can start doing some more kinds of testing and see where we’re at. You’re running out of days. We’ve got 52 days left, 53 days left. We’ve got to get back out there.”
The Yankees have barely been treading water without their superstar. Since May 31, they are 29-28, though they hope the recent acquisitions of Heliot Ramos and Luis Garcia Jr. can keep things afloat while Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Cody Bellinger all work their way back from the injured list.
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