A calf, and everything changes
The New York Yankees confirmed on Saturday that Aaron Judge has been placed on the 10-day injured list. The diagnosis is a right calf strain. The move is backdated to Thursday, the day after he left the game early against Minnesota in the sixth inning.
Judge felt the issue in the first inning. He admitted as much to reporters, saying he first tried to play through it before telling manager Aaron Boone. That delayed caution has come at a brutal time in the final stretch of the regular season.
To fill the spot, New York recalled Max Schuemann from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 29-year-old infielder hit .194 with two homers and eight RBIs in 41 games for the Yankees earlier this season.
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A 2026 season like nothing we’ve seen before
Judge has played only 66 games this year. A rib injury kept him out for more than three months, and he only returned on September 8. His stat line tells the story of that broken-up schedule: a .241 batting average, 18 homers and 41 RBIs.
The gap between that and his best is massive. In 2022, the Yankees captain launched 62 home runs in a season, an American League record. Four years later, he is set to finish with less than a third of that total.
His seven games since coming back have not helped. The three-time American League MVP has managed just four hits in 23 at-bats, a .174 average, with one homer and three RBIs. His body was clearly not done talking yet.
The schedule leaves barely any room
Because the move was backdated to Thursday, Judge is eligible to return on September 27. That is the final day of the regular season. In the best-case scenario, he gets one game to find some rhythm before the playoffs.
“When you start ramping up, things start to pop up,” he said. “Hopefully it’s just a little something and we’ll be back out there soon.” The Yankees, meanwhile, have sealed their October spot without knowing what shape their best hitter will be in.
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