Yankees star Aaron Judge returning to IL with right calf strain

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Sep 18, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — Aaron Judge is going back on the shelf.

The Yankees’ captain was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain on Friday. Utilityman Max Schuemann will be recalled from Triple-A to take Judge’s place, sources tell the New York Daily News.

Judge suffered what the Yankees initially called a right lower leg injury during the team’s extra-inning loss to the Twins on Wednesday. The slugger said he first felt something while playing the field in the first inning, but he didn’t exit the game until Heliot Ramos pinch hit for him in the sixth inning.

Judge could be seen grimacing on a check swing during the third inning and hobbling in the outfield during the fifth inning. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he wasn’t made of Judge’s injury until just before the right fielder was pulled from the game; the skipper noticed the hobbling during the fifth frame.

“I tried to kind of play it off and see how long we could go, because these games are important down the stretch,” Judge said Wednesday. “But in talking it over, I thought it’d be the right move to come out so we don’t cost the team in the field or on the basepaths.

“I didn’t think it was smart to push it too much here.”

Judge’s return to the IL comes with him just seven games removed from a 99-day absence for a stress fracture in his first right rib. That injury sidelined him from May 31 through Sept. 7.

On Wednesday, Judge, 4 for 23 (.174) with one home run and three RBIs since coming back, compared his new injury to the types of nagging issues that pop up during spring training and at the start of the season when players start ramping up their bodies. He has been doing just that since returning from his rib injury on Sept. 8.

“We’re still trying to ramp up, so there’s going to be little things like this that come up,” said Judge, who got his wish and skipped a rehab assignment for his rib.

Judge also only face live pitching once before returning from his rib injury. He did not play in full games his first two days back, and he had off on Sept. 10 and Sept. 15.

The Yankees had one of the worst offenses in baseball during Judge’s last IL stint, ranking last in K% (26.1%); 29th in wRC+ (90) and average (.227); 28th in wOBA (.299); 27th in OPS (.681); and 24th in runs scored (341) from June 2 through Sept. 7.

Judge’s latest IL stint also comes with just 10 games remaining in the regular season.

The second-place Yanks, who have already secured a playoff berth, will then host a highly-anticipated four-game series against the division-leading Rays from Sept. 22-24.

Now they’ll play those games without their best player, worsening the Bombers’ already-unlikely odds of snatching a division title from Tampa Bay.