Aaron Judge not expected to play for Yankees in AL wild-card series
Aaron Judge at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 22, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Once Aaron Judge went on the injured list over the weekend with a right calf strain, his availability for the wild-card round – which the Yankees are all but certain to play in – seemed doubtful.
Manager Aaron Boone confirmed as much late Tuesday morning.
“We’re planning on him not being a part of that,” Boone said before the first game of Tuesday’s split doubleheader against the Rays at the Stadium.
The Yankees entered Tuesday six games behind the Rays with seven games to play, meaning Tampa Bay could clinch the AL East title with a victory in either of Tuesday’s games — or with just one victory in the four-game series — and relegate the Yankees to the best-of-three wild-card round.
That series, almost assuredly against the Red Sox, is slated to begin next Tuesday at the Stadium.
Boone said the three-time AL MVP has a “moderate” calf strain, declining to reveal the grade of the strain. Usually, such injuries are categorized as either Grade 1, 2 or 3, with a 1 being the least severe (though Grade 1 strains still take several weeks to heal). The Yankees, of course, know whether it is a Grade 1, 2 or 3 but currently are choosing not to say.
“You hear all the time with injuries, we give ranges, two to four weeks, four to six weeks, all these things,” Boone said. “They’re ranges for a reason and we’re at a point in the year where, obviously, we push it a little bit if that was in play, but that’s a week away [the wild-card series], so I’m not expecting it [Judge being available] but I’m not ruling it out.”
Boone said Judge received a platelet-poor plasma injection on Monday and will not do any baseball activities for the next “couple days” at least.
“Not much,” Boone said. “Running, jumping, things like that.”
Judge missed three months earlier in the season recovering from a right rib fracture, going 4-for-23 with 13 strikeouts and one homer in seven games before returning to the IL with the calf injury.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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