Aaron Judge not included on Yankees' ALDS roster to face Rays
Aaron Judge not included on Yankees' ALDS roster to face Rays
Sean LeahySat, October 3, 2026 at 2:04 PM UTC
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New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge will not play in the AL Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays after he was excluded from the team's 26-man roster on Saturday.
"I decided that keeping him off was the best thing," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters hours before Game 1. "I feel like he's getting close, but I feel like for us to get a version of Aaron back and to win a World Series, I feel like this week's important for him to continue to work towards getting back."
Boone added Judge was close to returning and that the team could have added him as a pinch-hitter, but they decided the extra time to rest was more valuable for his recovery.
Judge sat out the Yankees' AL wild-card round sweep of the Boston Red Sox due to a moderate calf strain. He was placed on the injured list on Sept. 18, and four days later, Boone said the team was planning to play without Judge in the opening round.
"We feel like in a couple weeks since the injury, he's made real strides and significant improvements," Boone said Wednesday. "Hopefully, we're in a position to make another decision in a couple of days."
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Judge took live batting practice at Yankee Stadium on Monday and took more live at-bats at the team's Double-A affiliate in Somerset on Wednesday. He told reporters that he'd been limited to running on an anti-gravity treadmill designed for rehabilitation before running on the Yankee Stadium field before Game 1 of the Red Sox series.
One consideration with playing possibly Judge at Tropicana Field is the ballpark's artificial turf, something Boone said could have been a part of the decision-making process.
"It plays into it a little bit," he said Friday, via the . "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."
The Yankees travel to Tampa, with the Rays hosting Games 1 and 2 on Saturday and Monday. The series will shift to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday and a possible Game 4 on Thursday. Should it be necessary, a winner-take-all Game 5 would take place on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Tropicana Field.
Source: “AOL Sports”
