Yankees to face Rays without Aaron Judge as star not on ALDS roster

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Oct 3, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The verdict on the ALDS: The Yankees will be without Aaron Judge.

The star slugger, who has been dealing with a soleus strain in his right calf since mid-September, was left off the roster for the start of the series against the Tampa Rays. The club released the roster Saturday morning, ahead of Game 1. There was some hope he could pinch hit when the series shifts to New York for Games 3 and 4, but the Yankees ultimately opted against it.

Instead, Giancarlo Stanton will be active for the best-of-five series. Stanton hasn’t played since April 24 because of calf strains in both legs, but he was included on the roster for the wild-card round against the Boston Red Sox. He didn’t get into any games, with the two turning into blowouts, but he has a history of success in the postseason, with a .926 OPS in 48 postseason games.

When healthy, Stanton swings a big right-handed bat, something the Yankees will obviously be missing without Judge, though they certainly proved their offensive prowess without him in the wild-card round by plating 18 runs against Boston.

Judge spent much of the season on the injured list as well with a rib fracture, sidelined from May 31 to Sept. 8. The three-time MVP played only seven games before injuring his calf in Minnesota on Sept. 16. In 66 games in 2026, Judge hit .241 with an .871 OPS and 18 home runs.

If another player is injured, the Yankees could activate Judge as an injury substitution. He’s been working out to try to be healthy enough for an October run, and he has been running. It doesn’t sound like he has run the bases yet, but manager Aaron Boone said he doesn’t need to see him do so.

“No, sometimes running the bases, they replicate things in other ways,” Boone said Friday afternoon. “The trainers will obviously play a big part in this. As the day unfolds, we’ll see where we’re at and what it potentially looks like for the series.”

Judge worked out at GMS field in Tampa on Friday afternoon before joining the Yankees at Tropicana Field for their pre-series workout. He took batting practice on the field without a sleeve on his calf, and appeared to be in good spirits with his teammates, joining in on a competition to see who could hit the rings of the rafters in the Trop’s infamous domed ceiling.

Still, a calf strain typically takes 4-6 weeks to heal. Judge, 34, hasn’t even been out for three full weeks. Over in Flushing, the Mets expedited the returns of Francisco Lindor and Judge’s former Yankees teammate Juan Soto when they dealt with calf strains this season.

Lindor was out for two months in the first half, returning weeks early. When he returned, he wasn’t effective right away on either side of the ball. Soto missed two weeks in April with a mild strain of his right calf, but then missed a month with a left strain; this one, a Grade 2 strain, was more severe. He returned two weeks ahead of his projected date.

The Yankees are also cautious about Judge on a turf field, which could further aggravate the injury. The club discussed using him as a pinch hitter or a DH in Games 3 and 4 at Yankee Stadium, which has a grass field.

“It plays into it a little bit,” Boone said. “It’s just as far as him and the field, potentially. But we’re looking at the days, and so it’s more, is he going to be available at some point in this series, potentially, as a player? That’s what we’re kind of weighing and then seeing where he’s at now these last few days having taken live BP.”

Infielder Amed Rosario was left off the roster as well, but left-hander Ryan Weathers will be active for the second round of the playoffs. Weathers ended the season on the IL with a flexor strain, but Boone previously said Weathers would be available for the series. The Yankees are carrying 11 pitchers for a longer round, instead of 10 in the best-of-three wild card.