Aaron Judge’s exit from Tuesday’s game against the Twins sent Yankees fans into a panic.
Judge, who had already sat out the previous day, was pulled in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ series finale in Minnesota while New York trailed 2-0. He was due up for a third time against Zebby Matthews, but instead the Yankees turned to a pinch hitter. Judge finished 0-for-2 with two strikeouts.
Manager Aaron Boone had already said the club planned to be careful with Judge, but the timing of the move immediately raised questions. On the YES broadcast, Joe Girardi said, “there has to be an issue” when the reigning AL MVP came out of the game.
The concern is easy to understand. Judge missed more than three months with a rib injury, and the Yankees never offered much detail about the problem.
At one point in the diagnosis process, he saw a thoracic outlet specialist, which sparked fears among fans that he might need thoracic outlet surgery and could miss part of 2027. That never happened, but the possibility of lingering effects remains.
Judge did return to action without a rehab assignment, so it’s fair to wonder whether getting back into game speed this quickly may have brought something back. There’s also the possibility Boone was simply being extra cautious with the Yankees traveling to Arizona on Wednesday night before their weekend series against the Diamondbacks.
Either way, the optics were rough. The Yankees had just clinched a postseason berth two days earlier - their MLB-record 61st - and Judge’s sudden removal landed like a gut punch for a team with World Series ambitions. With New York still working to hold its place near the top of the American League playoff field and protect its spot in the Wild Card race, Judge’s presence had been a major boost for a lineup that leaned heavily on its depth while he was out.
If this is anything more than precaution, it would be another brutal blow for a Yankees team already trying to navigate a tense stretch. Losing an MVP, especially one described as the undisputed best hitter in the game, would be a massive problem this close to October.
Judge had a slight grimace during his last at-bat, and he was out of the game by the sixth inning. For now, all eyes are on the next update.
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