Shortly after it was learned that New York Yankees slugger and captain Aaron Judge had been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side, an update suggested that “September is the most realistic target date” for Judge’s return to big league action.
The fact that the Yankees haven’t yet given a definitive timeline for Judge’s expected recovery has understandably led some to wonder if he could remain sidelined through at least the end of the regular season. During an appearance on the latest edition of “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” program, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked if he’s confident he’ll have Judge back in the lineup this year.
Yankees, Aaron Judge feel this way about his recovery timeline
“Yes, yeah, and [Judge is] very confident,” Boone responded, per Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints.
Judge hasn’t played since May 31. Meanwhile, the Yankees won four of their first seven games of June to improve to 40-26. That’s encouraging, considering that the Bronx Bombers largely fell apart after Judge suffered a torn ligament
in his big right toe in June 2023. The 2023 Yankees went from 35-25 to 54-48 before Judge was able to make his return, and he ultimately was unable to help the club reach the playoffs.
Why Aaron Boone is confident Aaron Judge will return this season
As a follow-up, Boone was asked why he’s so confident Judge hasn’t taken his final in-game swing of the ongoing season.
“Just the nature of the injury and hearing the doctors talk,” Boone answered. “We just haven’t put a timeline on it because we don’t want to do that and miss the target or make the target, you know, or anything like that. I think there’s pretty strong confidence that he will be back and fully healthy.”
It is, of course, far too early for anybody to guess if Judge could experience any type of setback over the next several months. Additionally, it’s too early to know which teams may be willing to offer the Yankees some help in the form of a trade. For now, Boone and Co. will look to simply stay afloat without Judge, beginning with Wednesday’s series finale at the Cleveland Guardians (37-32).