In a new injury update, Aaron Judge could be headed for an extended stint on the injured list, and in fact, his season may have ended already, according to a prominent sports doctor, after the Yankees was sent for additional imaging on the slugger’s injured rib area.
Manager Aaron Boone’s refusal, when asked by reporters, to dismiss the possibility that Judge may have suffered a ribcage fracture only intensified concern about Judge’s status as New York tries to stay in the AL East race without its most important player.
Speaking to MLB Network Thursday, Boone said that Judge’s imaging showed “edema” around the area of a bone bruise on the superstar’s ribcage. But he expected further information shortly.
“I do expect us to know something definitive by today, and even immediately,” Boone said in the MLB Network interview.
Judge sat out a third consecutive game Thursday, in the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. Boone confirmed that a specialist had reviewed the three-time AL MVP’s right rib bone bruise, but rather than closing the book on the situation, imaging results opened a new chapter. Judge was sent back for additional scans targeting more precise areas of the rib and chest, according to MLB.com Yankees beat reporter Bryan Hoch.
“We just want clarity on exactly what we’re dealing with,” Boone told reporters, as quoted by New York Daily News beat writer Gary Phillips. “Obviously, it’s to a point to where he’s not playing, so we just want to make sure that we get a really strong diagnosis of things. Hopefully, then we can roll.”
Sports Doc Raises Injured List Possibility for Judge
GettyYankees manager Aaron Boone declined to rule out a possible fracture after Aaron Judge underwent additional imaging on his injured rib area, raising new concerns about the AL MVP’s availability.
Sports physician Jesse Morse also gave his assessment Thursday, and his opinion on the Judge situation would give Yankees fans no reassurances.
“Aaron Judge underwent 3 different forms of imaging over the past 24 hours. You donât do that if the injury is clear cut and obvious, Morse wrote on his social media account. “You order an MRI, x-ray and CT scan when youâre trying to nail down the exact diagnosis and get clarity. At this point Iâll be really surprised if he doesnât go on the IL.”
Morse went on to wrote that Judge would likely “miss at least 4 weeks, potentially longer.” The sports doctor concluded that the injury could even be “season-ending,” adding, “at this point it has to be on the table.”
The decision to order a deeper round of imaging after confirming the initial findings was also an alarm bell for Morse. The Miami-based physician noted that additional targeted scans are “potentially concerning.”
Judge Injury History a Lengthy One
For all of Judge’s production â 53 home runs and a 1.144 OPS in 2025 that earned him the AL MVP and batting title â staying healthy has been the persistent challenge of his career. Since debuting in 2016, the 34-year-old has made at least 10 trips to the injured list. A right oblique strain cut short his rookie year. A fractured right wrist from a hit-by-pitch erased most of 2018. Oblique trouble returned in 2019 and 2020. In 2023, a torn ligament in his right big toe from crashing into the bullpen gate at Dodger Stadium cost him more than a month and helped sink a Yankees team that missed the postseason entirely.
New York sits at 36-25, one game back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, and has dropped both games since Judge left the lineup. Left fielder Cody Bellinger put it plainly. “Huge loss in the lineup,” Bellinger told reporters. “We’ve all got to pick it up around him.”
The Yankees have a history of summer slides â New York went just 25-27 in June and July last season before recovering â and a prolonged Judge absence arriving right as June begins could set the stage for another one.
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