Yankees Injury Update: Aaron Judge progress, Trent Grisham status, Ryan Weathers

For much of the season, the New York Yankees have been defined by injuries. It has at times felt like as soon as one key cog returns from the IL, another one goes down. For example, it took months for Gerrit Cole and Max Fried to finally share the same rotation.

Yet the Yankees have kept on trucking. It hasn't always been pretty, but more often than not, they've hung on, biding their time until they might finally be able to return to full strength. We're not there quite yet, but there are some good things going on, as well as one cause for concern.

Aaron Judge continues marching towards a Yankees return

The single greatest thing that can happen to improve New York's fortunes is to have Aaron Judge return to the lineup. The three-time MVP last suited up on May 31, and the offense has mostly struggled in his absence.

However, after so much time, everything is going well with his rehab and his return is nearing. At the same time, last night's two-run showing against the Padres notwithstanding, the offense has started to come alive in recent days.

Judge has now crossed off a key milestone, taking batting practice on the field for the first time since going down, and is targeting a return during the Yankees' homestand, which begins on Tuesday, September 8. As long as there are no setbacks between now and then, the lineup is about to get a whole lot more potent.

Trent Grisham's injury status is up in the air as the Yankees await more tests

Trent Grisham was removed from last night's contest ahead of the bottom of the third inning, after yet another questionable defensive play. Grisham pulled up and couldn't get to a Xander Bogaerts' blooper in the second, resulting in a run-scoring single.

After the game, Aaron Boone revealed that it was his hamstring that was bothering him, and that he seemed to tweak it during his stolen base attempt in the top of the second. He noted that the hamstring hadn't bothered Grisham since the center fielder missed 18 games from June 13 through July 2. The team is going to send him for imaging, but the expectation is that this could be more than just a minor malady.

Yankees are set to receive some good Ryan Weathers, Fernando Cruz news

Ryan Weathers had been one of the Yankees' most pleasant surprises in 2026. Of all the starters traded over the offseason, he had been by far the most productive, while reaching career highs in starts (25) and innings pitched (137 1/3).

Unfortunately, the oft-injured southpaw couldn't avoid the IL, going down with an elbow flexor strain on August 23 and throwing a wrench in New York's pitching plans in the process.

After being completely shut down, Weathers is scheduled to resume throwing either today or tomorrow, and if all goes well is targeting a late September return. Getting the hard-throwing lefty back in time for the playoffs would be a huge boost for the Yankees and allow for the club to get creative with its October pitching staff.

Somehow, Fernando Cruz can't quite be ruled out yet, either; for now, he's avoiding the surgical route and will try rest and rehab to repair his partially torn UCL. The hope is that he'll begin throwing over the next few days, too.

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