Yankees' Aaron Judge set to miss wild-card series, says Aaron Boone

Aaron Judge is not expected to be part of the New York Yankees ' roster when they begin their wild-card series next week against their likely opponents, the Boston Red Sox , manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday .

The Yankees slugger was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with a right calf strain. He was eligible to return on Sept. 27, the day of the Yankees' regular-season finale, but now it appears Judge will be out longer.

Regarding Judge's status for the opening round, Boone told reporters, "We're planning on him not being a part of that," and noted that Judge received a PPP injection and is dealing with a "moderate grade" calf strain.

Judge returned Sept. 8 following a three-month IL stint due to a stress fracture in his ribs. Over his seven games back, he went 4-for-23 with 1 home run and 13 strikeouts.

A three-time AL MVP, Judge's 2026 season has been one to forget for the slugger. He got off to a slow start by his standards, slashing only .248/.375/.533 until the Yankees placed him on the IL in early June. Those struggles were partially due to the rib injury, which he reportedly tried to play through for six weeks.

The Yankees have seven games to play and finish the regular season this week at home against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles . The AL wild-card series is scheduled to begin Sept. 29, and New York is on pace to meet Boston for the second straight postseason.