The Red Sox may be about to catch a break at exactly the right time.
With Boston and New York likely headed for a second straight meeting in the Wild Card round, Aaron Judge’s latest injury scare could end up mattering a lot. The Yankees pulled Judge before his sixth-inning at-bat on Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins, and the sight immediately set off alarm bells for a player who already missed more than three months with a stress fracture of the ribs.
For a few tense moments, Yankees fans had to wonder whether the same rib issue had popped back up or whether something else had gone wrong. Meredith Marakovits of YES Network later reported that Judge left with lower leg tightness. He will still need to be examined after the game to determine how serious the problem is and whether another IL stint is on the table.
That uncertainty matters because New York’s offense looks very different without him. From May 31 through September 7, while Judge was out, the Yankees managed only a .682 OPS as a team - 27th in the league during that stretch. Boston, by comparison, put up a .752 OPS over the same span, which ranked fifth.
Even when Judge has been available this year, he hasn’t quite looked like the unstoppable force Yankees fans are used to seeing. In 66 games, he’s hit .241/.360/.511 with 10 doubles and 16 home runs.
That’s strong production for almost anyone else. For Judge, it’s a reminder that something has been off.
Since coming off the IL, he has four hits, including a home run, along with two runs and three RBI in seven games.
New York also chose not to send him out on a minor league rehab assignment before putting him back in the lineup, and that decision hasn’t exactly delivered the clean bill of health the Yankees were hoping for. Now there’s at least a chance they’re dealing with another issue in his leg.
None of that changes the basic truth: the Red Sox would rather face the Yankees at full strength. But if Judge is limited or unavailable, Boston will take whatever edge it can get, especially with that pitching staff looming in a series fronted by Cam Schlittler and Max Fried.
Judge’s postseason track record, too, offers a small reason for comfort. Across 65 games in 17 series, he’s hit .236/.346/.476 in October.
That doesn’t make him harmless. It just means Boston may not need to fear the same version of Judge it sees in the regular season. And if Wednesday’s injury turns into something more, the Red Sox could walk into October with a little more room to breathe.
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