Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday that Judge's toe injury is "a resolved issue," Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe when he crashed through a wall June 4 at Dodger Stadium and spent about two months on the injured list, but it has healed on its own without surgery, and he should be 100 percent steering into the 2024 campaign. The 31-year-old slugger projects to serve as the Opening Day center fielder for New York, with recent trade acquisitions Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo flanking him in the corners. Trent Grisham will be an active fourth outfielder.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Could be everyday center fielder
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Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday that Judge being the team's everyday center fielder in 2024 is "in play," Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Judge is still slated for right field duty as things currently stand, but the Yanks appear nearing a trade for Juan Soto, and Soto's addition would necessitate the move. While Judge has played plenty of center field over the last three seasons, he started just 16 games there in 2023 and missed a significant chunk of time with a toe injury. It certainly would not be the ideal defensive alignment, but the Yankees appear willing to deal with it in order to add Soto's bat.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Sitting out finale
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Judge is not in Sunday's lineup against the Royals.
Judge hit .284 with eight home runs, 19 runs and 19 RBI in 26 games in September. He will head to the bench along with Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton in the season finale.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Cranks two more homers
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Judge went 2-for-3 with two homers, four RBI and a third run scored in Wednesday's win over the Blue Jays.
After Judge sat out of Tuesday's contest, he returned to the lineup with a bang Wednesday, driving in four of the Yankees' six runs with a pair of two-run homers. The 31-year-old outfielder now has five home runs in his last four games after hitting just one in his prior 17 contests. Judge is up to 37 homers on the season, tied for eighth-most in the league, despite spending nearly two months on the IL. He's batting .269 with a 1.029 OPS, 77 runs scored and 75 RBI across 445 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Steps out of lineup
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Judge is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays.
The reigning AL MVP will head to the bench after a run of 22 straight starts, though his absence from the lineup isn't a surprise given manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Judge's spot in the lineup will be determined each day as he continues to play through a toe injury. There's no reason for the Yankees to push the 31-year-old during the final week of the season with the playoffs already out of the picture, though it's unclear at this point if the club is considering shutting Judge down entirely.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Playing time in final week TBD
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Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that he will have discussions with Judge each day this week about the slugger's playing time the rest of the way, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
Boone indicated Sunday that there were no plans to shut Judge down for the rest of the season, but he seemed less definitive about the possibility when asked again a day later. Judge is making a 22nd consecutive start Monday and has received just three days off since returning from a toe injury in late August. The toe isn't 100 percent healed, though, and with the Yankees officially eliminated from playoff contention it's possible the team and Judge will eventually decide it's best for him to be shut down. Judge isn't expected to require surgery on the toe.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Makes history with three-homer game
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Judge went 4-for-4 with a double, three home runs and six RBI in Friday's 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
He took rookie Brandon Pfaadt deep in the third and fifth innings before launching a Slade Cecconi fastball over the right-field fence in the seventh. It's the second time in 2023 that Judge has gone yard three times in a game, and he's the first Yankee in franchise history to produce multiple three-homer games in a season. Despite missing about a third of the year due to injuries, the 2022 AL MVP has slugged 35 homers with 70 RBI in only 100 contests this season.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Snaps slump with grand slam
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Judge went 1-for-2 with a grand slam and three walks in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader split with Boston.
Judge went 0-for-4 in the matinee but struck quickly in the nightcap, following a first-inning walk with a grand slam in the second. The Red Sox mostly avoided him thereafter, walking the slugger in two of his final three plate appearances, including once intentionally. Prior to the grand slam, Judge had been mired in a slump that saw him go 5-for-34 without a homer or RBI over his previous 10 games.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Goes deep again Saturday
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Judge went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk in Saturday's 5-4 victory versus Houston.
Judge belted his 31st homer of the campaign in the third inning with a 428-foot solo shot off Hunter Brown. The slugger has opened September with a long ball in two straight contests, reaching base four times in nine plate appearances during that span. However, strikeouts continue to be an issue -- Judge fanned three times Saturday and has registered a 40.3 percent strikeout rate over his past 16 contests.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Slugs 30th homer
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Judge went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 6-2 win against Houston.
Judge produced the final run of the contest with his 426-foot solo blast to center field in the fifth inning. The long ball was his 30th of the campaign, marking the third straight year he has reached that total. Friday's contest was just the 81st of the season for Judge, as he missed nearly two months due to a toe injury. The slugger's 9.4 AB/HR this year is just shy of his 9.2 AB/HR last season, when he set an American League record with 62 long balls.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Taking seat Thursday
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Judge is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game versus the Tigers, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
Judge will receive a day of rest for the afternoon contest as the Yankees go for a sweep. He's struggled over the last week, going 2-for-23 with 14 strikeouts across his previous six games. Jake Bauers will play right field Thursday in Judge's stead.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Swats 29th homer
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Judge went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, two walks and an additional run scored in Monday's win over the Tigers.
The solo shot gave Judge his seventh homer in 10 games. However, the 6-foot-7 slugger hasn't been able to record any other hits during that stretch, posting a .179 batting average with a 38.5 percent strikeout rate across 39 at-bats. Despite missing the better part of two months due to a toe injury, Judge is now just one home run shy of reaching 30 for the fourth time in his career.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Slugs three homers Wednesday
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Judge went 3-for-4 with three home runs and six total RBI in a 9-1 win over the Nationals on Wednesday.
Judge came into Wednesday in the midst of a quiet August during which he was batting just .200 with a modest (by his standards) four homers and six RBI over 19 games. The reigning AL MVP made plenty of noise against the Nationals, sandwiching a second-inning grand slam between solo shots in the first and seventh frames. The three-homer game was the first of Judge's career, and the six RBI tied his career-best mark. Despite missing over 50 games this season due to injury, Judge has belted 27 long balls, fifth most in the American League.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Homers again Saturday
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Judge went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to Boston on Saturday.
Judge took Kutter Crawford deep in the sixth inning to break up a potential no-hitter. The long ball was the second in as many days for Judge, who is just over three weeks removed from being activated following a lengthy stay on the injured list. The slugger is slashing .250/.429/.500 with five home runs, eight RBI, 10 runs and a 20:17 BB:K over 20 contests since his return.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Goes deep Friday
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Judge went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's loss to the Red Sox.
Though Judge's eighth-inning blast didn't make much of a dent in New York's six-run deficit, it may have helped him reset after striking out in four of his previous seven plate appearances. The slugger leads New York with 23 homers this season and is tied for second with 47 RBI despite missing over 50 games due to injury. Judge won't get anywhere close to the record-setting 62 long balls he blasted last year, but his current 10.2 AB/HR isn't far off his 9.2 rate during that historic campaign and would rank as the second-best mark of his career.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Won't need offseason toe surgery
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Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday on Jomboy Media's "Talkin' Yanks" podcast Tuesday that Judge won't require surgery on his right big toe.
Judge had indicated previously while he was still on the injured list that he might need offseason surgery to repair the ligament tear in his toe. However, it would appear that an operation isn't going to be necessary and the toe should heal on its own. Judge is sporting a .260/.456/.460 batting line with three home runs and five RBI in 16 games since returning from the IL.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Swats 22nd homer Friday
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Judge went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and two walks in a 9-4 win over Miami on Friday.
Judge clobbered a ball over the center field wall for a 464-foot solo shot in the third inning. It was his second homer in his past three games and his 22nd of the campaign. Since coming off a lengthy stay on the injured list July 28, Judge has slashed .256/.473/.513 with three home runs, five RBI and seven runs. Pitchers aren't giving him much to hit, as he's posted a 29.1 percent walk rate (against a 21.8 percent strikeout rate) over that stretch.
Judge went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-1 victory over the White Sox.
Judge clubbed homer No. 21 Tuesday, taking reliever Tanner Banks yard for a solo shot in the eighth inning. After starting out August 2-for-20 (.200), Judge has hit 3-for-6 (.500) over his last two games and has reached safely seven times in 10 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Not in lineup Friday
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Judge is not in the lineup Friday against the Astros.
Judge has mostly been serving as the Yankees' designated hitter since his July 28 return from a ligament tear in his right big toe. He still has some soreness in that area and will likely continue to need regular days off down the stretch. Giancarlo Stanton is filling the DH role Friday and Billy McKinney, Harrison Bader and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start across the outfield.
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Yankees' Aaron Judge: Sitting Sunday
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Judge is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles.
Manager Aaron Boone previously indicated the reigning AL MVP would sit one game in Baltimore this weekend after being reinstated from the injured list Friday, and the skipper followed through on that statement after Judge started at designated hitter Friday and in right field Saturday. The Yankees don't have a scheduled off day until Aug. 10, and Judge may sit a couple more times during that stretch since he's fresh off the injured list. Jake Bauers will shift to right field Sunday while Greg Allen receives a start in left.
