The New York Yankees have been without some of their most important players for much of the 2026 season to date, and with Max Fried heading back to the Injured List, this is a team that simply can’t seem to get healthy in 2026.
However, for many of those players currently on IL, returns are coming soon, with the Yankees already announcing that Carlos Rodon will be back in the pinstripes at the big league level before the end of the week. For Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger however, returns aren’t quite that close, but now, ahead of a series with the AL East rival Baltimore Orioles, the latter has revealed the next step in his return.
Cody Bellinger to Begin Rehab Assignment This Week
GettyCody Bellinger of the New York Yankees.
Unlike Judge and Stanton, Bellinger has not been out for months of action, as his last game in the big league level came on July 25th against the Philadelphia Phillies before he was placed on the Injured List with a left hamstring strain.
As of right now, Bellinger is the closest of the three sluggers to a return, and ahead of the Orioles series, he provided an update on his return from injury, revealing that his first rehab outing will come with Triple-A this Thursday.
Following that, he and the organization will determine his next step depending on how his body holds up after that game, but as of right now, the veteran left-hander believes he’ll likely need to play in more than one rehab game before returning for the Yankees.
Bellinger Will Provide the Yankees With a Major Spark
While Bellinger isn’t the only big power bat currently absent from the Yankees lineup, his return is much needed, as the team have struggled immensely over the last month, and while they’ve got arguably the best pitching staff in the entire sport, their struggles at the plate have held them back from truly dominating.
Before the injury, Bellinger was on a tear once again, hitting .259 with a .770 OPS alongside 11 home runs and 53 RBI in 102 games played, earning the third All-Star nod of his career to date. Sure, it wasn’t a career year worth of production, but given the depth of this lineup when healthy with Judge, Stanton, Ben Rice and others, this is a team that could be genuine World Series threats in 2026.
Only time will tell just how much the 31-year-old can improve this Yankees lineup when he returns, but given how much they’ve struggled as of late, getting his bat back into the middle of the lineup alongside Rice and some trade deadline additions will be huge for New York as they look to keep pace with the top teams in the AL Wild Card race over the next seven weeks.
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