The Yankees are heading into October without Aaron Judge, at least for the Wild Card round.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters Tuesday, before the doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, that the club is not planning to have Judge active for the first playoff series. According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Boone said, "We're not planning on him being a part of that," when asked about Judge’s availability for the AL Wild Card.
That leaves New York facing the postseason without its biggest bat, with Judge sidelined by a calf strain after already missing a large chunk of the 2026 season. He was out from the start of June until late August, returned briefly, then landed back on the injured list.
The timing makes the situation even tougher. The Yankees are likely to meet the Boston Red Sox in a home Wild Card series, while the Tampa Bay Rays are on the verge of taking the AL East and the third Wild Card spot remains well behind both New York and Boston.
There is at least one bit of good news for the Yankees: Jazz Chisholm Jr. is coming back, and Cam Schlittler is expected to be on the mound, with the likely Cy Young winner getting the start. But none of that changes the biggest issue hanging over the roster.
Judge is still the player who changes everything for this team, and now the Yankees have to get through the first round without him. Boone’s update makes it clear that a return in the Wild Card series is off the table, and anything beyond that - ALDS, ALCS, or even the World Series - remains uncertain.
Even if Judge does make it back later in the postseason, there’s no guarantee of what version of him the Yankees would get. He already looked a little off after his earlier IL stint, and now he’s dealing with another injury on top of it.
For now, the outlook is simple: the Yankees will have to try to survive October’s opening act without Aaron Judge.
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