NEW YORK — The Yankees spent Sunday showing they can still win without Aaron Judge, but their 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays also showed how much they are asking from a lineup missing its biggest bat. New York has found enough offense to stay near the top of the American League, yet every game without its captain keeps the same question hanging over the postseason race.
Aaron Judge last played May 31 in a 13-8 road win over the Athletics, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single. He landed on the injured list after that series with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. The Yankees captain believes the injury began on a diving catch in Houston on April 26, and he continued playing through discomfort for more than a month before the Yankees shut him down.
The Yankees have survived, but they have not replaced his production. Judge was hitting .248 with a .375 on-base percentage, .533 slugging percentage, 17 home runs and 38 RBIs in 59 games when he went down. New York has remained in playoff position without him, but a healthy Judge changes the lineup, the way opponents deploy their pitching and the Yankees’ ceiling in October. That is a difference New York cannot completely hide forever. The issue now is whether his recovery can move quickly enough to make September a real return window.
Boone sees progress, but Judge still has to catch up
That possibility moved closer over the weekend.
Manager Aaron Boone said Judge has hit off a tee on multiple days, took one day away from hitting and was expected to resume Sunday. Judge is also running, performing strength work and responding well as the Yankees increase his workload.
Boone was asked about the possibility of Judge needing only a short rehab assignment. His answer reflected both the progress and the uncertainty.
“Oh, we’ll see. You know, he’s hit now a few days off the tee, and I think he didn’t hit yesterday. But I think he’ll probably hit again today,” Boone said.
The larger issue, Boone explained, is rebuilding Judge’s overall baseball conditioning after a long stretch in which his upper-body activity was restricted.
“But he’s running, doing strength stuff, responding well. So the biggest thing for him now is kind of building up the body to get back in playing shape, where he wasn’t allowed to do much for that first month, especially. So it’s more getting the body up to speed as much as anything,” Boone said.
The Yankees have not announced an activation date. MLB’s latest injury reporting says a return before September is unlikely, making next month the earliest realistic window at this stage.
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Boone was also asked whether he remains confident Judge will play again this season. His answer was affirmative.
That matches the position Judge has maintained since doctors cleared him for more activity earlier this month.
“Oh, I’ll be back this season. I don’t know why I wouldn’t be. That was always the plan to come back,” Judge said.
The Yankees announced June 5 that imaging showed the stress fracture. Judge initially had to rest and limit activity. Follow-up scans later allowed him to resume outdoor running, playing catch and upper-body resistance work.
A potential date for his return could be the Subway Series.
Judge had not swung a bat since May 31 before beginning tee work last week. Tee swings are only an early checkpoint. The Yankees still must advance him through more forceful hitting, defensive work and game-speed repetitions before activation becomes realistic.
Yankees have won without Judge, but at different pace
The standings show both New York’s resilience and the cost of Judge’s absence.
The Yankees were 36-23 after his final game on May 31. Since then, they are 38-33 through Sunday. That is a .610 winning percentage through Judge’s last game compared with .535 since he went on the injured list.
Over 162 games, those rates translate to roughly a 99-win pace and an 87-win pace.
New York nevertheless holds the top American League wild-card position and sits three games behind Tampa Bay. The Yankees also own a plus-100 run differential through Sunday.
That gives Boone room to avoid rushing Judge merely to chase regular-season wins. The larger goal is getting him healthy enough for the postseason and, ideally, giving him enough September at-bats to restore timing before October.
September becomes next Yankees checkpoint
Judge is running, lifting and swinging again. The Yankees are encouraged by his response. Those are major changes from the first weeks after the diagnosis, when healing the rib was the priority and baseball activity remained limited.
What the Yankees still do not have is a firm date.
There has been no announcement of live batting practice, a minor-league rehab assignment or a target game for his activation. Boone’s confidence concerns Judge returning this season, not a guarantee that he will be back on a specific September day.
That distinction matters as the Yankees prepare to open a three-game series against Houston on Tuesday and enter the final 32 games of the AL East race.
Judge’s recovery has moved from protecting the injury toward rebuilding him for baseball. The Yankees believe that process still ends with their captain back in the lineup this season.
September is now the window to watch.
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