Aaron Judge Aims for Yankees' ALDS Return vs. Rays After Calf Injury

The New York Yankees won their Wild Card Series over the Boston Red Sox with relative ease, outscoring their rivals 18-2 in the two-game sweep. They did so without their biggest name and best player, three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge .

Things now shift to the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays , beginning Saturday at Tropicana Field. Will Judge be available? It seems like a last-minute decision. Game 1 of the ALDS starts at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday, and teams need to submit official ALDS rosters prior to the start of the series. Judge, 34, has been on the injured list since Sept. 16 with a calf strain.

"We'll see," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday ( via SNY ). "He'll be working out today. He hit again live yesterday at Yankee Stadium. He's doing more live today over at [George M. Streinbrenner Field in Tampa] and here, so we'll make those calls probably later tonight."

Judge has been doing some running, Boone said, but the slugger's status remains up in the air.

"The trainers will obviously play a big part in this as the day unfolds and we'll see where we're at and what it potentially looks like for this series," Boone said.

Aaron Judge NYY • RF • #99

BA 0.241 R 45 HR 18 RBI 41 SB 5 View Profile

Boone told reporters earlier this week that Judge had been "making progress," but he was still left off the roster for the Wild Card Series. There's risk here either way. If Judge is left off the roster, he can't join the club before the ALCS, if the Yankees make it there, unless someone else on the team falls injured. A player being replaced on the roster due to injury, by rule, must be left off the roster for the next round. If there's any chance Judge could come back, the Yankees surely will want to roster him. Of course, if there's a chance he gets hurt again in the series, they won't want to remove him from the roster and burn him for the ALCS -- so they'd be taking the chance of having a player on the roster they can't use.

Further, if Judge needs to serve as a designated hitter instead of playing right field, that could force Luis García Jr. to the bench with Ben Rice playing first base. García has been productive since the Yankees landed him ahead of the trade deadline and he was 3 for 5 with a home run in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.

Judge was sidelined for most of the 2026 regular season due to what was initially termed a bone bruise in his right ribcage that was also affecting his right shoulder. He returned in early September, but was only able to play in seven games before suffering a lower leg injury. As it turns out, the Yankees called the latest injury a right calf strain.

In those seven games after his return from the injured list, without a minor-league rehab assignment, Judge was 4 for 23 (.174) with 13 strikeouts, though he did hit a home run in his sixth game.

In all this season, Judge appeared in 66 games, hitting .241/.360/.511 (.140 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 18 home runs, 41 RBI, 45 runs and 1.9 WAR. The Yankees were 41-25 in games Judge started this season and, now including the playoffs, are 54-43.

The Rays had the best record in the AL this season at 98-64 and won AL East by 4 ½ games over New York. The Rays won the regular-season series over the Yankees, 7-6.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/yankees-aaron-judge-injury-update-alds-rays-mlb-playoffs/)._