Aaron Judge may have played his final game of 2026 after a right calf strain sent him back to the injured list with the postseason approaching. His return remains uncertain, rather than ruled out.
The Yankees placed Judge on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 19, retroactive to Sept. 17. He is eligible for activation on Sept. 27, the regular-season finale, but that is the earliest permitted return, not confirmation that he will be ready.
“I’d like to be back by the postseason,” Judge said Saturday, according to The Associated Press. “I’ve got really no answers for you on any timeline or anything like that.”
Judge identified the injured muscle as the soleus and said the strain was affecting his running. He is continuing to throw, while the injury’s grade has not been publicly disclosed.
He first felt discomfort in the opening inning against Minnesota on Sept. 16 but continued playing. He was replaced by a pinch hitter in the sixth, initially describing the exit as precautionary. Persistent symptoms subsequently prompted an MRI that confirmed the strain.
No rehab assignment before his return
Judge’s previous injury, a fractured rib, had cost him 84 games during a 99-day absence. He rejoined the Yankees lineup on Sept. 8. He had asked to bypass a minor-league rehab assignment, and the Yankees agreed.
That did not mean he returned without preparation. Judge took batting practice before his activation, and Boone consulted the club’s training and strength-and-conditioning staff. The Yankees also limited him to six innings in his first game back and planned days off as he resumed playing.
After that first game, Judge made clear he wanted to stay in the lineup.
“I respect Booney, so whatever he says I’m going to do, but not happy about it,” he told the AP.
Boone subsequently defended the decision to skip the assignment.
“These things happen with a rehab assignment or without one,” he said Friday, according to MLB.com.
The sequence raises a fair question about whether the Yankees’ return plan provided enough game preparation after such a lengthy absence. It does not, by itself, establish that a minor-league assignment would have prevented the calf injury. The available reporting leaves that connection unproven.
Judge’s comeback amounted to four hits in 23 at-bats, with 13 strikeouts across six games, before he was sidelined again. The American League Wild Card Series begins Sept. 29, leaving little time for another return before the opening round.
A later October appearance remains a possibility, particularly if New York advances. But if Judge’s recovery outlasts the Yankees’ postseason, that brief comeback will have been his last baseball of 2026.
