NEW YORK — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman addressed reporters following Monday's trade deadline, discussing the status of star slugger Aaron Judge.
Cashman said he remains hopeful Judge will return this season from a stress fracture in his right first rib, while acknowledging the possibility he may not play again this year.
"It's always possible that things don't go the way you want," Cashman said. The organization is "still very optimistic that he's going to return," he added, despite uncertainty over the timeline, the ramp-up process and re-establishing his batting timing.
Judge has been out of game action since May 31 and has not yet resumed any baseball-specific activities. His next imaging scan will determine the path forward; Cashman declined to say when that scan is scheduled.
Cashman said there is a "pretty high likelihood and optimism" that Judge will fit within an anticipated return window — a view shared by Judge and the team's medical staff. He characterized the situation as "a moving target" until Judge receives full medical clearance.
"Until you get closer to the comfort of deployment of, yes, you can start actually doing physical and baseball activities and you're cleared, the healing's enough, etc. that's when you get a much better picture of how much longer this is going to take," Cashman said.
Judge first suffered the rib injury April 26 — his 34th birthday — while diving for a ball. He played through the discomfort for over a month before the pain forced him off the active roster.
Through May 12, Judge was hitting.275 with 16 home runs and a 1.047 OPS in 43 games. In the 16 games after May 12, his numbers dropped sharply: a.180 average, one home run and a.550 OPS across 71 plate appearances. He was placed on the 10-day injured list June 5 and transferred to the 60-day IL on July 18.
The Yankees offense has struggled badly since Judge's absence became official. Starting June 1, New York ranked 30th in wRC+, 29th in OPS and 26th in total runs scored across major league baseball.
To address the offensive void created by injuries to Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger, the Yankees made moves before Monday's trade deadline, acquiring first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. and outfielder Heliot Ramos.
Garcia Jr. a left-handed hitter, joined the lineup Monday night, batting third and playing first base against the St. Louis Cardinals. He is expected to share time at first base and designated hitter with Ben Rice, particularly against right-handed pitchers. Ramos is slated to play "extensively" against both right-handed and left-handed pitching until injured players return.
Ramos posted an.835 OPS against left-handed pitching this season, suggesting he could shift into a platoon role against lefties once reinforcements arrive from the injured list.
Stanton, sidelined since late April with two calf injuries, took live batting practice and ran in the outfield Monday at Yankee Stadium. Bellinger suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain last week and faces a four-to-six-week recovery.
