The New York Yankees are dealing with unfortunate news as Aaron Judge is sidelined for the foreseeable future with an injury. With Judge out of the lineup, the Yankees are calling up touted prospect Spencer Jones, per Yes Network’s Jack Curry.
As for Judge, the star slugger is expected to miss at least four to six weeks with a rib injury.
“Judge has a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side, the Yankees said,” Curry detailed in a June 4, 2026, message on X. “He’ll require a period of rest and limited activity.
“Judge will be re-imaged in about 4-6 weeks to determine how much he’s healed. Yanks said Judge is expected to return at some point this season.”
Here’s what you need to know about the latest Yankees news.
Yankees OF Spencer Jones Hit Just .167 in 10 MLB Games Before Being Sent Down to the Minors
Jones is a touted prospect as the former No. 25 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft. The towering 6-foot-7 outfielder is still looking to solidify himself as an MLB player.
Jones struggled in limited action earlier this season. The slugger hit just .167 with four hits, 2 RBI and 12 strikeouts in 10 appearances before being sent down to the minors.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone labeled the move “a really tough call” to send Jones back down. Boone still emphasized confidence in Jones despite his struggles.
“I feel it was a good experience for Spencer,” Boone said of Jones in May, per Yahoo Sports. “Even though he didn’t get a lot of results, I felt he held his own pretty well. The last two days, he was having some good at-bats.”
Yankees Are Hoping Spencer Jones Can Contribute Amid Aaron Judge’s Injury
What can fans expect from Jones? It remains to be seen but MLB.com described Jones as possessing an “intriguing combination of power and uncommon athleticism” as a prospect.
“Jones offers an intriguing combination of power and uncommon athleticism for a 6-foot-6, 235-pounder,” MLB.com detailed in a scouting report on Jones. “His bat speed, strength and leverage produce well-above-average raw power and exit velocities, though there are some concerns about how much of his pop will play in games.
“He rarely turns on pitches and must prove he can handle quality velocity on the inner half at higher levels. His naturally long left-handed stroke results in a lot of strikeouts, including 155 with a 29 percent whiff rate in 2023,” the report added.
“Jones shows average speed out of the batter’s box and is a solid runner once underway. He’s aggressive on the bases and covers ground with long strides in center field.”
Yankees Rumors: New York Initially Feared a Season-Ending Injury for Aaron Judge
It is less than ideal to have Judge sidelined, but things could have been a lot worse. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that there was some concern that Judge had a season-ending injury.
“There were questions about whether this was potentially thoracic outlet syndrome, which is something that would have required surgery and would have kept Aaron Judge out for the remainder of the season,” Passan detailed in a June 5, edition of SportsCenter.
“So, I’m never going to say something that keeps you out for a month to a month and a half before being reevaluated is a good thing necessarily. But compared to what it could have been, the Yankees had a sigh of relief tonight.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Yankees to Announce Aaron Judge Replacement in 6-Foot-7 Bat Amid Unfortunate News appeared first on HEAVY.