PHOENIX — The Yankees officially placed Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to Thursday, and recalled Max Schuemann. Judge cannot return before Sept. 27, the final day of the regular season, and will miss the four-game showdown with the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
That leaves almost no margin for a normal buildup before the AL Wild Card Series begins Sept. 29. Judge had returned Sept. 8 from a 99-day absence caused by a stress fracture in his first right rib. He went 4-for-23 with one homer and 13 strikeouts before the calf injury.
The timing is especially damaging because Judge had only started to rediscover his swing. His three-run homer Monday in Minnesota was his first since returning. Two days later, he felt tightness in his lower right leg during the first inning, stayed in the game and did not leave until Heliot Ramos pinch-hit for him in the sixth.
An MRI in Phoenix showed the strain. Judge said Saturday it is in the soleus, which he described as “a little more crucial with running and hitting.” He would not provide the grade, and Aaron Boone again declined to offer a timetable.
The Yankees already know what his absence can do. From June 2 through Sept. 7, New York ranked 29th in the majors with a 90 wRC+ and a .227 average, 28th in wOBA and 27th in OPS. Pitching largely kept the Yankees afloat.
Recent Yankees history makes the gamble harder to ignore
Rehab games cannot guarantee health. Their value is controlled repetition, recovery testing and game-speed exposure before postseason intensity arrives.
Recent Yankees history offers caution. Matt Carpenter returned from a broken foot for the 2022 postseason and went 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts. In 2019, Edwin Encarnación returned from an oblique strain and hit .056 in the ALCS, while Gary Sanchez hit .129 after a September groin injury.
Those examples do not predict Judge’s outcome, but they show why timing matters. If he is ready Sept. 27, the Yankees would have one regular-season game before the postseason. Otherwise, his first game back could come under playoff pressure with almost no live preparation.
Judge’s own comeback choices now face scrutiny
The second injury shifted the debate from bad luck to the decisions surrounding Judge’s return. He made clear in August that he wanted to skip a minor league rehab assignment, and the Yankees allowed it.
Judge faced live pitching only once before activation. When the Yankees limited him to six innings in his Sept. 8 return, he openly disliked the restriction even though the plan had been discussed in advance.
“I respect Booney, so whatever he says I’m going to do. But I’m not happy about it,” Judge said after that game.
That sequence now looks uncomfortable. It does not prove a rehab assignment would have prevented the strain, and Boone rejects that conclusion. But bypassing minor league games, then resisting a controlled workload, has intensified questions about the buildup.
Judge doubles down as October clock tightens
Judge himself gave the Yankees a clearer picture of his injury Saturday, but not the timeline they need.
The captain said the right calf strain is in the soleus muscle and that returning for the postseason is “definitely the plan.” Hours later, New York lost 5-3 to Arizona, falling to 89-65 and five games behind Tampa Bay with eight games remaining.
“I’d like to be back by the postseason. That’s definitely the plan. I got really no answers for you on any timeline or anything like that,” Judge told after the game.
It virtually ruled him out of this regular season.
Judge still is not second-guessing the choice. He has argued that a rehab assignment would not have eliminated injury risk, and Saturday he again stood by the decision after the IL move became official.
“People blow out their calves and blow out their quads in rehab assignments, so I don’t think taking a game in Double-A will change any of that,” Judge said earlier in the week.
Yankees now need Judge to accept a slower clock
Judge has built his career on playing through discomfort. The rib injury was believed to have occurred on an April 26 diving catch in Houston, yet he continued playing until May 31. That competitiveness is part of his value, but the Yankees now have fewer chances to accommodate it.
Judge is publicly targeting October. “I’d like to be back by the postseason. That’s definitely the plan,” he said Saturday. Desire, however, is not the same as readiness. His calf still must tolerate running, hitting and game action.
For now, the Yankees still have no answer. Judge will miss the Rays series, the division deficit is five games, and Boone has not said whether his captain will be ready when the postseason begins. The next decision may matter more than the last: how aggressively the Yankees let Judge push once the soleus improves.
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