Building the best possible Yankees lineup(s) to survive Aaron Judge's absence

As talented as the New York Yankees' roster is, the impact of Aaron Judge on the lineup cannot be understated. Some take for granted the all-time tear he's been on since 2022 as well as the effect his presence has, even when he's slumping. The lack of clarity with the Yankees' announcement of his injury led to a lot of misunderstandings regarding Judge's timeline. He's going for more imaging in four to six weeks, meaning it'll probably be at least two months before he's back in the Bronx.

In the meantime, the club will need to do more than simply tread water. Having an elite starting rotation will help cover some of the lost offense, but it can't hide all of the ills.

New York can't mitigate Judge's absence, but the club can close some of the gap. To do so, they'll need to make some crucial decisions to up their run-scoring abilities while the three-time AL MVP is on the mend.

How can Yankees navigate Aaron Judge's lengthy 2026 absence?

For this exercise, we're going to focus on the players who will be available to the Yankees for the majority of Judge's absence. That means, we're going to count guys like Jasson Dominguez and Giancarlo Stanton as potential options since both are expected back from their own IL stints at some point in June.

The biggest issue is that the team can no longer rely on Judge's greatness to obscure the fact that the bottom third of the order has been terrible. It's been a season-long problem. Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells, in particular, have been brutal, and now that Wells is out for the foreseeable future with cervical headaches, it's highly unlikely that minor league journeyman Ali Sanchez is an improvement with the bat.

Mitigating the impact that the soft underbelly of the batting order can have on the offense's ability to score runs will require bold choices and big swings. Here's what the Yankees should do versus right-handed pitching.

Not a ton of surprises here. The two biggest things are riding the hot hand between Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez, and benching Anthony Volpe in favor of Jose Caballero. The first is self-explanatory. We haven't seen enough of either young outfielder this year to make a case for one over the other. So, we'll want to see whoever is hot in the lineup, and by virtue of being the only one healthy at the current moment, Spencer Jones has the head start.

Shortstop is the only other big debate. After a brief blip of optimism, Anthony Volpe has settled back into being the disappointment we've all become accustomed to. Meanwhile, despite some truly uninspiring underlying metrics, Jose Caballero has found a way to be productive.

Bottom line, Volpe does things like stare at three straight heaters down Broadway without the bat leaving his shoulder, while Caballero simply finds ways to be a pest. That distinction matters.

Now what about against left-handed pitching? Aaron Boone likely won't be this bold, but he should consider the following:

The fact of the matter is that against southpaws, three of the Yankees' best hitters are Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, and Stanton. The hard truth is, without Ben Rice catching, there's no way to get the three of them into the lineup at the same time once Stanton is off the IL.

Boone has been reticent to let Rice catch all season. Part of that is lame excuses where he's still talking about his spring training workload. However, when he says that the potential for a drop-off in Rice's exceptional offense if he's catching is a concern, he's not wrong.

Rice is on an MVP pace, and with Judge out could actually win the award if he keeps this up. But the Yankees don't need him to win MVP. They need to build the deepest possible lineup whether or not Rice is producing at peak levels so they can survive without Judge.

Other key changes are sitting McMahon in favor of Amed Rosario, and giving Dominguez (once he's back) the opportunity to prove that he's truly improved as a right-handed hitter.

This configuration requires a sense of daring that Boone and company don't normally possess. It also means the Yankees have to sacrifice some defense for offense. When you're attempting to paper over a void like Judge's absence, those are the type of chances you need to take.

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