The New York Yankees won Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday afternoon.
However, before the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave some important updates on superstar Aaron Judge. Judge suffered a calf strain last week and returned to the IL roughly a week after coming back from a rib injury that sidelined him since late May.
Boone’s Update on Judge
After revealing that Judge was diagnosed with a moderate calf strain, Boone noted that he is not counting on the slugger being available for the Wild Card round of the postseason next week.
While he didn’t rule him out, it seems as if the Yankees will be trying to keep their season alive without Judge, at least early in the playoffs.
Breaking: The Yankees do not expect to have Aaron Judge available for the Wild Card series next week, manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge was placed on the injured list with a right calf strain Friday and received a PPP injection Monday. pic.twitter.com/mfLjfjw1kY
— ESPN (@espn) September 22, 2026
Cody Bellinger Speaks on Latest Judge News
Playing a key role in Tuesday afternoon’s victory was All-Star Cody Bellinger, who drove in the only two runs of their 2-0 win over the Rays with a home run.
After the game, Bellinger spoke about the Yankees having to move forward without Judge for the time being.
“Yeah I think for us… it’s really one game at a time,” Bellinger said postgame. “We all believe in each other in this locker room and we’re not looking too far ahead and really like I said just taking it one game at time.
“Obviously having Judge on our team helps out tremendously. So we just gotta continue coming out, winning games, playing for each other and leaning on each other and just continue playing clean baseball.”
Cody Bellinger Sends Strong Message After Latest Aaron Judge Injury Update