Aaron Judge will see a specialist Wednesday for another opinion on an upper right rib bone bruise after he was held out of the Yankees’ 9-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The team has kept his status as day to day, with a possible return hinging on whether h
New York — The Yankees are still holding their breath over Aaron Judge, and it’s not just because his bat was missing Tuesday night.
Judge will see a specialist Wednesday for another opinion on the bone bruise in his upper right rib, the injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium.
On Tuesday night, team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad examined Judge, and manager Aaron Boone said the findings were “in line with what the imaging (showed).” Boone added that the Yankees want an outside look too—“to kind of rule out anything else or see if there’s anything else to see.”
Boone described Judge’s status as “day to day,” but he also cautioned against reading too much into the Yankees not placing Judge on the injured list yet. The real question, Boone said, will be whether Judge feels good enough to play.
Before Tuesday’s game. Boone said the Yankees viewed it as “overall good news” that Judge is dealing with a bone bruise rather than something worse. Judge has been battling “nagging soreness” in that area for a couple of weeks. and Boone said it worsened over the weekend against the Athletics in Sacramento.
That pain hit hard during the Yankees’ recent stretch of games. Judge went 2-for-12 (.167) during the three-game set versus the Athletics, and Boone said the injury is affecting how Judge swings while not affecting how he throws.
Tuesday night was different in the way the injury has been eating away at his timing—he didn’t appear in the Yankees’ clubhouse before or after the game when reporters were allowed access, though he was in the dugout for a portion of the matchup.
José Caballero started in right field in Judge’s place.
Judge’s current injury timeline has also lined up with a rough patch at the plate. Since May 17, Judge has hit .163 with one home run and eight RBIs over 13 games.
Still, the numbers show how far he’s drifted from his usual standard. Going into Tuesday. his .908 OPS ranked 13th best in the majors. and his 17 home runs were tied for the fourth most. Yet his .248 batting average sat well below the .331 mark he posted last season, and below his .322 average in 2024.
The season-long context has only sharpened the concern. After playing just 106 games in 2023, Judge has been something of an ironman for the Yankees, appearing in 158 games in 2024 and 152 games in 2025. He missed 10 games last year with a right flexor tendon strain.
Even the origin of the rib bruise remains unclear. Neither the Yankees nor Judge has been able to pinpoint whether the injury happened on a specific play or during a particular game. Boone acknowledged it “could have been when he dove at some point” trying to make a catch.
“It’s probably been something that’s been affecting him here recently and especially (last) weekend,” Boone said. “Hopefully, it’s something that we just get calmed down here.”
This isn’t the first time Judge has dealt with a rib problem. In March 2020. doctors discovered a stress fracture in his right first rib and a partially collapsed lung that stemmed from a dive he made in a game the prior September. He was shut down for two weeks, though the season was delayed until July because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boone said it was “tough to say” whether there was any correlation between that earlier injury and this one.
If the Yankees end up without Judge for significant time, Boone said their options to replace him are questionable.
Caballero is a career infielder, so the lineup would likely require more scrambling. The Yankees could shift left fielder Cody Bellinger to right field when Jasson Domínguez returns from the IL—Domínguez has a left shoulder AC joint sprain—but Boone said Domínguez might not even begin a rehab assignment until Friday. Amed Rosario, another career infielder, has light outfield experience. Max Schuemann, a light-hitting option, is also in the mix.
The team’s top prospect Spencer Jones has also been part of the conversation. Jones struck out 12 times in 27 plate appearances after his MLB debut in May, though much of his playing time has been intermittent. He entered Tuesday with a .954 OPS in 39 games at Triple A.
For now. though. the Yankees are focused on Wednesday’s specialist visit—the moment that will decide whether this stays a manageable bruise or turns into something that forces them to plan without their centerpiece. Judge’s status remains “day to day.” The specialist visit is next. And until then. the Yankees are waiting. again. for a single answer to determine how much of their season they can count on.
Aaron Judge Yankees bone bruise right rib Cleveland Guardians Aaron Boone Dr. Christopher Ahmad injured list day to day
So he’s day-to-day but maybe not… baseball injuries are always weird.
They should’ve just put him on the IL already. “Specialist Wednesday” sounds like they’re stalling for ratings or something.
Rib bone bruise… I don’t even know if that’s real serious or like “rest a bit” serious. Also it says he went 2-for-12 so maybe it’s the rib AND the swing. But they’re saying his throwing is fine which like… ok?
Wait, I thought rib injuries would show up immediately on imaging? Outside look to “rule out anything else” makes it sound worse than they’re saying. If he’s still battling soreness for weeks then why is it suddenly a specialist visit now, unless they already know something.