Aaron Judge is making his return from injury on Tuesday night for the New York Yankees against the Colorado Rockies.
He may not make it to the end of the game, though — and if that happens, it would likely be by design.
The Yankees’ manager, Aaron Boone, made it clear in a conversation with Talkin’ Yanks that it’s not a given Judge will play a full nine innings immediately in his early games back.
Judge was out for more than three months with a rib injury.
There’s going to be a day this week when Tampa lost, the Yankees are in a tie game and Aaron Judge is due up second in the bottom of the 7th.
And he’s going to get pinch hit for.
Our fanbase will lose their minds and call for Aaron Boone to be fired. Then I’ll probably write a… https://t.co/0pgZwng6Zk
— Rational Yankees Fan (@rationalyankee) September 8, 2026
As that tweet above suggests, it’ll certainly be an odd sight to see Judge pulled in the middle of the game.
It’s not crazy, though.
Why Are Yankees Pulling Aaron Judge In Middle Of Games?
The key variable for Judge that could lead to this decision is that he didn’t go on a rehab assignment.
Generally when MLB players are injured, they first go and play games in the minor leagues to tune back up for their return to the majors.
They often play limited innings at first down there, too, almost like a mini-Spring Training.
The idea is to ease their bodies back in and avoid any silly injuries on the road to recovery.
Judge didn’t want to go on a rehab assignment mainly so he could impact the playoff race as soon as he was healthy, but that doesn’t remove the reality that the Yankees have to be careful with their captain.
If Judge were to get hurt and miss the playoffs because the Yankees left him in a game too long this week, it’d be a tough thing to live down.
They’re also relatively safe in the playoff discussion. It’ll take work to chase down the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East Division, but a wild card spot is all but assured. They’d rather get in that way with Judge than win the division but not have Judge.
Aaron Judge No-Rehab Precedent
Judge has done this before.
The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty shared this on X on Tuesday:
“In 2023, he missed nearly two months and didn’t play any rehab games. He hit .245/.408/.557 with a .965 OPS and 18 home runs in his final 57 games.”
If the Yankees get that level of production out of Judge, they’ll be quite happy.
There’s also the reality that not every injury is created equal. There’s a chance that this comeback is harder on Judge.
But given the circumstances, the Yankees will certainly take some Judge rather than no Judge.
Why Yankees Pulling Aaron Judge in Middle of Games is Their Plan