The New York Yankees will take the field Tuesday night at Target Field without Aaron Judge in the lineup, a planned rest day that arrives one night after the club officially punched its ticket to October.
New York beat Minnesota 8-3 on Monday, a result that became a celebration once Detroit finished off Toronto and locked the Yankees into the postseason for the ninth time in ten seasons.
Judge supplied the exclamation point himself, launching a three-run homer in the eighth inning for his first long ball since returning last week from a fractured rib that cost him 84 games.
Manager Aaron Boone had already flagged the possibility of giving his three-time MVP extra recovery time this week. After Judge played through rust and strikeouts in his first handful of games back, the club chose Tuesday rather than Monday or Wednesday, via Underdog MLB.
The decision leaves a makeshift order that starts Ben Rice at designated hitter, followed by Cody Bellinger in left, Heliot Ramos in right, Luis García Jr. at first, Spencer Jones in center, George Lombard Jr. at short, Anthony Volpe at second, Ali Sánchez behind the plate and José Caballero at third. Max Fried draws the start against Bailey Ober.
Judge’s 2026 line remains modest by his standards: a .243 average, 18 home runs, 41 RBIs and 45 runs in 65 games. He missed more than half the season after the rib injury, originally suffered on a diving attempt in late April and aggravated by playing through pain.
The Yankees went 45-39 without him and watched their offense dip, yet they still sit 87-63, three and a half games behind Tampa Bay in the American League East and comfortably ahead of Boston for the top wild-card spot.
With the playoff berth secured, Boone can now manage minutes more carefully as the regular season winds down.
The rest is not unexpected for a 34-year-old slugger still shaking off three months of inactivity, but it still drew sharp comments from fans who wanted the full lineup after champagne night.
New York has won six of its last seven and remains in position to chase the division if the Rays stumble.
A series win in Minnesota would keep that pressure on. Judge is expected to return Wednesday and then settle into a more regular role as October approaches.
For one night, the Yankees will try to grind out another victory with a younger, less decorated group while their biggest star gets a breather.
