Aaron Judge has been absent from the Yankees' lineup since suffering a toe injury on June 3, and it appears he won't be returning anytime soon.
Judge has a torn ligament in his right big toe stemming from his running into the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and surgery is a possibility for the Yankees star.
"There’s talk of surgery, but I don’t think we’re at that [point]," Judge said on July 4. "I’m not a doctor. I have no idea. They throw around eight different things."
Judge was following up his sensational 2022 campaign with another outstanding season in 2023, slashing .291/.404/.674 with 19 home runs in just 49 games, putting him on pace for 63 home runs over a 162-game season. He advanced to the second phase of All-Star Game voting as the leading vote-getter in the American League outfield.
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Without the reigning AL MVP in the lineup, the Bronx Bombers have gone 10-11 and with their offense scuffling in his absence. They have remained in third place in the AL East in spite of that, though they have fallen from six games out of first to 10 games back of the division-leading Rays.
Here's what you need to know about Judge's injury, and when he could return.
When is Aaron Judge coming back?
As Judge mentioned, he doesn't know when he can return because the injury is rare. On July 4, Judge offered an update, saying surgery is on the table, but he's not "at that point yet." Still, he's on the mend and rehabbing.
"I’m feeling good, not great yet. We’re getting there," Judge said. "I've got to be able to run. If I can run, then I can play. Me running at 10 percent [isn’t] going to help anybody out there."
Yankees manager Aaron Boone is optimistic that his star will be back in 2023, but he has stopped short of offering any guarantees.
"That’s an absolute. I can’t say that about anyone," Boone said on June 24, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
"The reality is, we're without him right now and we've got to find a way to get it done," Boone added, per the AP. "We have the people in there to get it done, we just got to do a better job right now of putting pressure on the opposing pitchers and defense."
Judge has suggested resuming baseball activities soon, though that should not be taken as a sign of an imminent return. Per the AP, he did rehab work in a pool on June 21 and is hoping to play catch or swing a bat in the near future.
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"It's something I mentioned to the training staff: I want to test it out a little bit," Judge said, per the AP. "Maybe play catch, maybe take some dry swings. I just kind of see where it’s at.
"I really wouldn't say it’s me running on the field and/or doing a lot of baseball activity. It's more me being passive saying, 'We've done a lot of stuff in here. We're making some great progress. Let’s test with what I’m going to be actually doing on the field.'"
Toe ligament tear recovery time
A toe ligament tear, to the degree described by the AP, would be more than just Grade 1 turf toe, which is a stretch or sprain of the big toe. It could be closer to Grade 2 or Grade 3 turf toe, per the Cleveland Clinic; that's when the soft tissue complex partially tears (Grade 2) or is more completely torn (Grade 3).
According to Mass General Brigham, if the injury is Grade 3 turf toe, Judge could take two to six months to recover, depending on whether surgery is needed. Two months would sideline Judge until August, while any other timeline would put the remainder of his 2023 campaign in jeopardy.