Aaron Judge continues to serve as the face of the New York Yankees, despite landing himself on a day-to-day status due to a bone bruise in his right rib cage.
Hopeful for a quick return to the lineup, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for fans to bank on watching him clinch yet another MVP title, according to the latest poll.
The American League race continues to heat up, and as expected, Judge is a top candidate once again, with 10 votes.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge in AL MVP Race
GettyAaron Judge of the New York Yankees running the bases before his injury
Per Theo DeRosa of MLB.com, select players sit atop the AL MVP poll in terms of votes. Those names include Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, Ben Rice of the Yankees, Nick Kurtz of the Athletics, albeit he received zero first-place votes, and Judge.
The race is tight, but the determining factor will be the result of how Judge recovers and performs at the plate moving forward.
Judge already has three MVP awards in his pocket, tabbing him as the 13th player to be named MVP at least three times in the span of his career.
Clinching Another Award Is Up To Judge
GettyAaron Judge of the New York Yankees in the dugout while injured
As DeRosa insinuated, the ball is essentially in Judge’s court right now. But to add another MVP Award to his resume, he will need to boost his performance at the plate. This year has not been glowing for the veteran.
So far this season, he is slashing .248/.375/.533 with a .908 OPS and 17 home runs through 59 games. For reference, during his 2025 campaign, he logged a slash line of .331/.457/.688 with a 1.145 OPS and 53 homers through 152 games.
To be candid, the 34-year-old slugger is not hitting at the standard the baseball community knows him to be capable of, but that doesn’t mean he can’t turn a corner. Until then, red flags are being raised around him.
Judge Held Back by Injury
GettyAaron Judge of the New York Yankees at the plate before his injury
The star right fielder was out of the lineup during New York’s matchup on June 2, which resulted in a dreadful 9-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium.
According to Brandan Kuty of The Athletic, skipper Aaron Boone stated the ballclub “[wants] a specialist to look at it, too, to kind of rule out anything else or see if there’s anything else to see.”
It’s unclear when the injury occurred, but now, he is left to recover. Ideally, he will return to play rather quickly, but more answers are needed before he can be cleared.
Bottom line, without Judge and his hot bat in the lineup, the Yankees could easily slip further down in the standings. At the time of this writing, they’re currently riding 36-24 overall in the AL East, closely behind the Tampa Bay Rays at 36-22.
Outside of Judge, New York is suffering various injuries across the board. They have a handful of key players watching from the sidelines, cautiously preparing for their long-awaited return.
11-Year Yankees Icon Heats Up in Latest AL MVP Poll