Yankees fans can't overlook key detail of Aaron Judge's injury timeline

When Aaron Judge was diagnosed with a rib fracture on Thursday night, the New York Yankees capped off their update with "Judge is expected to return this season." Does that sound like it will be an abbreviated absence?

Some fans seem to be taking Judge's injury timeline out of context. Judge will undergo imaging in 4-6 weeks. That does not mean he will be back in action when that time runs out — he will be shut down for that duration.

Once he's eligible to begin rehabbing, that's when the clock will start for his eventual return to the field. He will have to gradually ease back into working out. Then light baseball activities. Then ramp-ups. Then live batting practice. Then running. Then more high-impact stuff. Then a rehab assignment. That itself can take upwards of a month.

For anybody attempting to sunnyside Judge's situation, we won't fault you for trying to stay positive. But the reality is the reality. Judge is more than likely missing at least two months of action in 2026. He will not win the MVP. He will not be at the All-Star Game.

And for those who may have misinterpreted the Yankees' messaging due to the clunky wording and lack of transparency, we get it. They do this regularly as a distraction mechanism of sorts. But don't start thinking he could be back in a month's time. If we were to truly guess, we would say Aug. 20.

Projecting when Aaron Judge can return to the New York Yankees' lineup

All hope isn't lost, though. The Yankees still have a talented team. They just will not be elite without Judge. The offense will take a hit and the unit will need to figure out different ways to consistently generate offense without his prowess.

Additionally, it's not out of the realm of possibility he's cleared to begin rehabbing in four weeks. Maybe he heals quickly. That could put him on track to return in late July, but that's assuming an absolute best-case scenario. We're not banking on that since he just played through the injury for OVER A MONTH and worsened it.

We continue to talk about this stuff ad nauseam, but remember the Yankees thought Giancarlo Stanton would be day-to-day after getting injured on April 28? Yeah, he still isn't back and probably needs a couple more weeks.

It's just best to brace yourself when it comes to Yankees injury news. Rarely is it the best-case scenario. We'll hold out some hope, but we won't be holding our breath.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow