superstar and three-time American League MVP spoke with reporters in Yankee Stadium on Friday afternoon to provide a bit of an update on his progress. Judge has been out since May 31 due to a stress fracture in his rib cage. Initially, the Yankees said they would wait four to six weeks before re-evaluating. It’s been about six weeks and Judge said he’s experienced “some healing,” but offered little in terms of a concrete timeline for his return to the lineup.
Judge told reporters (via ) that there’s been “some progress, some healing going on, but not fully healed.”
“So we’re still waiting on one more doctor to take a look at it, kind of see how we progress forward the next couple weeks. But definitely a positive sign that we’re seeing some healing,” Judge said.
There’s still more imaging to be done on Judge. For now, he hasn’t been cleared to resume baseball activities, but Judge “definitely” expects to return at some point this season (via ).
“I don’t see why I wouldn’t,” Judge said.
For Judge, it probably feels pretty great to know there has been some progress in terms of healing around the stress fracture. This always felt like it was going to be a long recovery process once the news was first announced.
Judge, 34, won AL MVP in each of his last three full seasons and was the easy and obvious best hitter in baseball from 2022 until he went down with injury this season, though the batting average took a tumble here in 2026.
Heading into Friday, the Yankees are 36-23 with Judge in the starting lineup and 18-19 when he doesn’t play.
They recently went through an awful slump, losing 14 of 18 games before closing the first half with a four-game winning streak. They are capable of remaining toward the top of the American League without Judge, but any realistic shot at winning the World Series needs to include Judge in the lineup.
