Aaron Judge's abrupt removal from Yankees-Twins game has fans losing their minds

UPDATE: Meredith Marakovits revealed Aaron Judge left the Yankees' game on Wednesday with lower leg soreness.

After getting a day off on Tuesday, Aaron Judge was removed from the Yankees' series finale against the Twins in the sixth inning in what has Yankees fans on high alert. While manager Aaron Boone said they were going to be cautious with Judge, we would've guessed yesterday's lineup decision represented that.

It's unclear if anything is wrong with Judge, but YES broadcaster Joe Girardi said "there has to be an issue" when the reigning AL MVP was taken out of the game. The Yankees were trailing 2-0 and Judge was set for his third at-bat against Zebby Matthews. The slugger was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts on the afternoon.

Judge's rib injury that sidelined him for more than three months was a complicated one, and the Yankees didn't divulge a whole lot of information about it. Early in the diagnosis process, Judge had seen a thoracic outlet specialist, which had fans worried he would require thoracic outlet surgery and miss part of 2027.

Thankfully that wasn't the case, but there's a real chance there are lingering effects from the injury that he's experiencing right now. Judge worked his way back to full strength without a rehab assignment, so perhaps jumping into game action this quickly aggravated it.

There's also the chance Boone was being extra extra cautious with the Yanks traveling to Arizona on Wednesday night before their weekend series against the Diamondbacks.

Aaron Judge injury concerns are now another frightening Yankees problem

This coming just two days after the Yankees clinched a postseason berth — an MLB record 61st — is a vibe killer if there is indeed a setback for Judge. Fans are on high alert, acknowledging that this is a possible worst-case scenario for a team with World Series aspirations.

With New York remaining among the top playoff teams in the American League during his absence and working hard to maintain their top spot in the Wild Card picture, Judge's return was a breath of fresh air and a reprieve for the depth players who had been carrying the load.

Judge going down again would be the unofficial death of the Yankees' season. This roster is talented enough to potentially make a run, but few teams out there can stomach losing an MVP — let alone the undisputed best hitter in the game — right before the playoffs are about to start.

We'll continue to hope it was precautionary given how delicate the situation is, but it's hardly ever a good sign when this is the approach just barely a week since he's returned.

Stay tuned for updates as they're made available.

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