tamil yogi
The New York Yankees find themselves in the same spot in the standings they occupied at this point a year ago: in second place in the American League East behind a club surpassing preseason expectations. Last season it was the Toronto Blue Jays, this year the Tampa Bay Rays, with the Boston Red Sox on their heels.
The Yankees eventually matched the Blue Jays a year ago with 94 wins, but the head-to-head tiebreaker gave Toronto the division title. This year, the Rays have a 6-3 edge in the season series, with a pivotal four-game series in the Bronx remaining in late September.
Editor’s Picks
Unlike the 2025 Yankees, however, the 2026 Yankees enter the final month of the regular season with major health concerns surrounding several of their most important players, headlined by Aaron Judge and Max Fried — and that’s despite the recent return of Cody Bellinger and Carlos Rodon from the injured list.
“The IL team is great,” second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. recently quipped.
The Yankees’ potential to win their first World Series since 2009 rests on their recovery from injury. On paper, if all goes right and they chase down the Rays for the division crown, the Yankees will enter the postseason as favorites to win the pennant. A few injury setbacks and a wild-card matchup against the blistering-hot Red Sox for the second consecutive postseason would add substantial turbulence.
So for the next month, while needing a win every night, the Yankees will also hope to successfully work important contributors back into the fold. Here’s a look at where each key player on the injured list stands ahead of a crucial four-game series against the Red Sox this weekend in New York.
Injury: Stress fracture in first right rib
Last played: May 31
Best-case return: Second week of September
Impact: Crucial
Most teams would crumble if a player of Judge’s caliber — a three-time MVP in his prime — spent nearly three months (and counting) on the injured list. That happened to the 2023 Yankees, when Judge missed nearly two months with a sprained big toe after crashing into the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium. The 2023 team missed the playoffs. The 2026 team, however, has been better equipped to handle his extended absence thanks to a dominant pitching staff.
Still, the bullpen is running on fumes, and scoring runs remains agonizingly difficult. A healthy Judge would supercharge an offense that ranks 28th in runs scored, 28th in OPS, 29th in wRC+ and 30th in batting average during his absence. The good news is Judge is on track to return in September after a deliberate recovery process from a rib injury he sustained diving for a ball in late April before playing through pain for more than a month.
Noise of SummerNo, thinking it’s too loud doesn’t mean you’re too old. Baseball games are noisier than ever these days — by design. Jorge Castillo »
Judge was recently cleared for baseball activities. He has played catch, shagged balls in the outfield and done agility drills. On Wednesday, after being limited to tee and soft toss work, he took swings against overhand pitches in the batting cage for the first time.
Next up: batting practice off a pitching machine, live batting practice at-bats and a rehab assignment — though if Judge has his way, the plan won’t include a rehab assignment. Judge was adamant Thursday about not needing one when he’s cleared to play in games and pointed to not going on one before returning from his toe injury in 2023.
“Why waste at-bats? Why waste anything in a minor-league game?” Judge mentioned. “I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I’ve got a sense of what I need to do on the field and manage it. So why waste at-bats in Double-A or Triple-A?”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone mentioned this week that Judge would slot back into right field — with the occasional DH day — despite the inherent risk of playing the field coming off the injury. Whether he’ll regain his MVP form in the batter’s box for the postseason is another matter.
“I think we won’t really see until we get out there in some games and stuff,” Judge mentioned. “But I’m not too worried about the power or bat speed because I feel like even if it’s a tick off, it’s still better than nothing.”
Judge suffered nearly the same injury in September 2019, but he played through the discomfort into the AL Championship Series and he wasn’t diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib — and partially collapsed lung — until March 2020. He recovered without missing any games because the start of the 2020 season was pushed back three months due to the COVID pandemic. He finished the season batting .257 with nine home runs and an .891 OPS in just 28 games after two stints on the injured list with calf strains.
Injury: Right and left calf strains
Last played: April 24
Best-case return: Late September
Impact: Low
Stanton’s outlook is not nearly as rosy as Judge’s. The DH was nearing his long-awaited return from two right calf strains when he strained his left calf running the bases last week. While Boone did not rule out Stanton playing again this year, Boone acknowledged that it will be “challenging” to get Stanton onto the field at this stage in the season.
Stanton has played in just 24 games in 2026. When he’s on the field, he’s a game-changing threat. Last year, he clubbed 24 home runs in just 77 regular-season games and posted a .944 OPS. His 2024 postseason — seven home runs, three doubles, 16 RBIs and a 1.048 OPS in 14 games — was pivotal in the Yankees reaching the World Series.
The Yankees had been projecting that Stanton, MLB’s active leader in career home runs, would resurface when it mattered most. That’s looking iffy at best.
“He’ll obviously continue to work to try and get it right and hopefully be available,” Boone mentioned.
Injury: Sprained left thumb
Last played: Aug. 19
Best-case return: Monday
Impact: Medium
McMahon sprained his thumb sliding headfirst into second base against the Orioles. The third baseman could return as soon as Monday, but the Yankees could opt to wait Tuesday when rosters expand.
“He’s doing well,” Boone mentioned. “He’s doing everything so he’s in line to be at that 10-day mark. We might take it a couple extra days, just with Sept. 1st being around the corner. He might even play in a couple rehab games prior to that, but he’s trending in a good way.”
Injury: Elbow bone bruise
Last pitched: Aug. 13
Best-case return: This weekend
Impact: High
Fried is on the injured list with a bone bruise in his left elbow for the second time this season. While the first setback sidelined the left-hander for more than two months, Fried could return to start against the Red Sox this weekend, after serving the minimum 15 days on the IL. Fried last week mentioned the first case was more severe, and that this stint on the IL was precautionary.
Awards WatchWhat can Ohtani do to pass PCA for NL MVP? Cease or Schlittler for AL Cy Young? Here’s the just in on MLB’s awards races. Bradford Doolittle »
“Before was definitely more intense, more pain,” Fried mentioned. “I would say it was something that felt similar, but at a smaller scale. And I just wanted to be as transparent as I could be with the medical staff and the coaching staff. And knowing that we have a big goal at hand and I want to take the ball and was willing to, but we decided it was better to just take a little bit of a breather now.”
Fried threw a four-inning, 60-pitch live batting practice Monday and emerged from a bullpen session Thursday without a setback.
Still, there’s reason for concern when he returns. Fried, who had Tommy John surgery in 2014, acknowledged the pain could resurface if he doesn’t clean up his mechanics to allow his arm to properly follow through.
“I’ve been fighting my mechanics a lot this year,” mentioned Fried, who has a 2.81 ERA in 15 starts this season. “And using this time to really focus on that, get better with the timing, and kind of isolate the problem is what I’m gonna use this couple of weeks for.”
Injury: Partially torn UCL
Last pitched: Aug. 25
Best-case return: Late September
Impact: Medium
Injury: Tommy John surgery
Last pitched: July 2025
Best-case return: Early September
Impact: Medium
Injury: Forearm flexor strain
Last pitched: Aug. 22
Best-case return: Late September
Impact: High
We’re going to group these three pitchers together since they’re part of a bullpen picture that has become hazy in recent days. The Yankees are within striking distance of the Rays largely because their relief corps has posted the second-best ERA in the majors. But they’ve relied heavily on their high-leverage arms to navigate a constant stream of tight, low-scoring games.
Right-hander Paul Blackburn has thrown 71 innings this season, fourth most among relievers. Left-hander Brent Headrick ranks ninth with 67 innings while leading the majors with 68 relief appearances. That heavy workload has inevitably produced fatigue: Headrick’s last outing (three runs in two-thirds of an inning) was his worst in a pristine season after giving up five runs over his previous 44 appearances.
The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani
In a six-episode series, 30 for 30 Podcasts examines how Shohei Ohtani’s relationship with his longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara unraveled amid a massive sports betting scheme. Listen now.
Cruz, 36, was one of those high-usage, high-leverage relievers (61 appearances) until recently, when his stuff regressed and his results suffered. The slide culminated with an MRI on Wednesday that showed a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He is seeking multiple opinions before deciding how to proceed. Tommy John surgery is on the table.
Weathers avoided that scare after exiting his start Saturday. Tests showed a forearm strain, opening the possibility for him to return this season as a reliever, though he won’t start throwing again for 2-4 weeks. Weathers mentioned he dealt with a more severe sprain at the end of spring training last year with the Miami Marlins that sidelined him until mid-May.
“It’s almost not a Grade 1 strain,” Weathers mentioned. “It’s very low grade. It’s more just irritated than anything.”
Pitching out of the bullpen would’ve been his role for the postseason anyway if the Yankees’ top four starters — Cam Schlittler, Gerrit Cole, Fried and Rodón — were healthy. But not having Weathers available to handle a starter’s workload limits the Yankees’ depth should one of the top four suffer an injury setback or get chased early from a postseason start.
A starter the past two seasons, Schmidt had Tommy John surgery last summer and is nearing a return as a reliever since there isn’t enough time for him to build a starter’s workload. The right-hander threw an 18-pitch live batting practice at Yankee Stadium this week and is slated to go on rehab assignment next. While he could eventually give the Yankees multiple innings out of the bullpen, the team does not expect him to be available to pitch on back-to-back days.
After not acquiring a pitcher at the trade deadline — and instead trading several relievers — the Yankees have signed journeyman relievers Eli Morgan, Justin Topa and Michael Fulmer over the past week for depth. Topa and Fulmer, who tossed a scoreless eighth inning in his debut Wednesday against the Houston Astros hours after joining the team, are on the major league roster. Morgan is in Triple-A. The three right-handers could be given a chance to stick in the bullpen.
“We’ve definitely had some attrition here and gotten dinged a little bit on the injury front,” Boone mentioned. “But we’re also, I feel, still very much in line to be really good at the very end when it matters most, and even now down the stretch.
“So there’s a couple spots semi up for grabs now with some guys going down and some opportunities created. But hopefully we get Max back here on the weekend, and hopefully a couple of guys can step up in bullpen roles to fortify that group that’s obviously been so good for us all year.”
✔ today silver rate
✔ 2026 winter olympics
✔ chat gtp
✔ silver rate today
✔ silver rate today live
✔ 2030 winter olympics
Sports
