Aaron Judge rejoined the New York Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night, starting in right field and batting third against the Colorado Rockies after a 99-day absence caused by a broken rib.
The three-time American League MVP had missed 84 games since he last played on May 31. Judge, 34, chose to skip a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment before returning directly to the big-league roster.
The injury dates back to April 26, when Judge hurt himself in Houston while trying to avoid second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. during an unsuccessful attempt at a diving catch. Before landing on the injured list, he had batted .263 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs across 31 games, though he managed just one homer in his final 18 games before going on the shelf.
Judge entered Tuesday’s game hitting .248 with 17 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .907 OPS on the season.
New York was 36-23 the last time Judge appeared on May 31 and went 45-39 without him in the lineup. The team’s offense cooled noticeably in his absence: the Yankees hit .243 with 86 home runs and a .770 OPS over 59 games through May 31, but slipped to .227 with 107 homers and a .681 OPS during the 84 games he missed. That batting average ranked 29th out of 30 major league teams for the stretch, ahead of only Seattle’s .225.
The Yankees entered Tuesday at 81-62, four games behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox (80-65) for the top AL wild-card spot. New York holds a tiebreaker edge over Boston after winning the season series between the two clubs.
Judge is coming off a career year in which he hit a career-high .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs across 152 games, earning his third MVP award and his first batting title. That season included a separate injury absence — 10 games missed from July 26 to Aug. 4 with a flexor strain in his right elbow, suffered on a throw to home plate on July 22 in Toronto. He received a plasma-rich platelet injection for that injury and did not need offseason surgery.
Judge has skipped rehab assignments before. In 2023, he missed 42 games with a fractured right big toe after crashing into the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium, returning directly to the majors. He hit .245 with 18 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .965 OPS over 57 games following that return.
