NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are holding their collective breaths as they await the imaging results on star right fielder Aaron Judge’s right elbow Saturday morning.
“(We’re) obviously concerned,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters.
Judge was out of the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium.
He had difficulty throwing balls in from the outfield in Friday night’s 12-6 home loss to the Phillies, three days after he winced after making a throw in Toronto.
Here’s the play in Toronto on Tuesday where Aaron Judge was wincing after a throw back to the infield.
Aaron Boone said Judge felt better on the off day, but then last night he was “really dealing with it” and “couldn’t throw well from the outfield.”pic.twitter.com/fRWa26HK2w
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) July 26, 2025
“Felt like we wanted to have him (out of the lineup Saturday), get the imaging, get our hands around just what exactly we’re dealing with,” Boone said.
Judge didn’t appear in the Yankees’ clubhouse during the 50-minute window in which reporters were allowed access Saturday morning. At one point, a clubhouse attendant appeared to fetch Judge’s clothes from his locker for him.
Judge appeared to first show signs of pain in his elbow in the seventh inning Tuesday when he tracked down a fly ball to the right field warning track with one out and a runner on second base. Judge quickly turned around and fired back into the infield to hit the cut off man. Immediately, he winced and clenched his fist.
He remained in the game, but served as the Yankees’ designated hitter on Wednesday. Boone told reporters on Wednesday that Judge was OK despite having appeared to have hurt himself on the play, and he added that his plan all along was to was for Judge to DH that day.
Judge went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and an RBI on Friday.
Losing Judge for any amount of time could be devastating for the Yankees. Arguably the game’s best player, he entered Saturday leading the league in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.449), slugging percentage (.711) and OPS (1.160). He was tied for second in home runs with 37.
The Yankees were already expected to be active prior to the July 31 trade deadline. They traded for third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies on Friday, and it seemed likely they would try to add more pitching.
But there’s no way they could replace what Judge means to them on the field and off of it.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself with that,” Boone said. “Hopefully it’s something that’s manageable and we can get through.”
(Photo: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)