Aaron Judge to face his final Yankees hurdle before expected return

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Cite

Joyce, G. (2026, September 7). Aaron Judge to face his final Yankees hurdle before expected return. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/07/sports/aaron-judge-to-face-his-final-yankees-hurdle-before-expected-return/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-07 · by Greg Joyce

Quick Summary

Yankees manager Aaron Boone is uncertain about whether star player Aaron Judge will return from injury for Tuesday's series opener against the Rockies, despite Judge facing live pitching Monday at Yankee Stadium. The specific arm throwing to Judge has not been determined as of Sunday. Judge, who has spent over three months on the injured list with a right rib stress fracture, aims to skip a rehab assignment and return sooner than expected. He will likely need a second time facing live pitching before being activated from the injured list.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-07, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Aaron Judge, the Yankees' star player, will face live pitching at Yankee Stadium on Monday as part of his rehabilitation from a right rib stress fracture. This is likely to be the final step before he returns to the team, which could happen as early as this week. Judge has been out for over three months and has been doing rehab work, including running the bases and defensive drills in right field. He had hoped to skip a minor league rehabilitation assignment and return directly to the majors. The Yankees' manager, Aaron Boone, was non-committal about whether Judge's return would be on Tuesday when the team faces the Rockies.

Written for “Aaron Judge Injury Update” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Aaron Judge Injury Update
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 19 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A reports on Trent Grisham's injury and Aaron Judge's progress towards returning from a broken rib, while Article B focuses solely on Aaron Judge's expected return to pitching”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-07 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 13037 article(s) · 33 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 33 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Greg Joyce
57 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Some Yankees bosses may have been irked by Aaron Judge questioning whether they have gone all in enough, but Hal Steinbrenner insists he was not one of them.
🔮 After another disappointing playoff exit, Boone is coming back for a 10th season as manager next year, with Cashman also expected to return for his 30th season as general manager on a new contract.
🔮 The current president of baseball operations for the Mets was the top decision-maker for the Brewers (as general manager and then president of baseball operations) from September 2015 through October 2022, then spent the following year in an advisory role to ownership before landing in Queens. Access the Mets beat like never before Don’t miss Mike Puma’s text messages from Queens and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Mets. Sign up NowDuring that time, through amateur drafts, international signings and trades, Stearns helped build the foundation of the roster that just swept the Dodgers in the NLCS and will play in the organization’s first World Series in 44 years.
🔮 Boone also dropped Spencer Jones — the Yankees cleanup hitter in each of the prior three playoff games — down to batting eighth in the lineup, the lowest he has hit against a right-hander since May 19 (facing Dylan Cease).
🔮 He may have more talent and tools than almost any other player on the roster, most notably his speed, athleticism and power, but the Yankees have not been able to get that out of him regularly enough, especially this year.
🔮 McMahon has not brought much offensively and then committed a fielding error on the first ball put in play in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday night at Tropicana Field, the first of four the Yankees would make in Game 2.
🔮 “So there would’ve been a right-hander I would have used at some point had we gotten runners on base, but by the time he was in the game it was 5-1.
🔮 The Yankees will try to become the first team to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series since they did it in the 2017 ALDS against Cleveland.
🔮 When the division series makes its way to The Bronx, Max Fried will get the ball first for the Yankees.
🔮 The Yankees were technically off Sunday, but the players who wanted to get their work in ahead of Game 2 of the ALDS went to their spring training home instead of the field where they will play Monday night.
Also by Greg Joyce
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 57 articles by Greg Joyce →

Topics

Post Sports+ Rockies SAN DIEGO Triple-A Yankees

Subjects

Yankees ORG · 8× Judge PERSON · 6× Boone PERSON · 5× Domínguez PERSON · 3× Harris PERSON · 2× Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ORG · 2× Aaron Judge PERSON · 1× Greg Joyce PERSON · 1× Post Sports+ ORG · 1× SAN DIEGO GPE · 1×

Narrative

- WinCraft insulated can coolers - Team Effort driver head cover - 47 Brand adjustable cap - Customizable jersey - Logo fleece blanket - 14-ounce sculpted relief coffee mug It will not be Clarke Schmidt pitching to Judge, as the right-hander made his third rehab appearance Sunday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-07
🔮 Aaron Judge is expected to face live pitching Monday at Yankee Stadium, essentially the last box for him to check — other than building up his stamina — before he returns from a right rib stress fracture, likely at some point this week.
2026-09-07 · New York Post
Aaron Judge to face his final Yankees hurdle before expected return · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

Aaron Judge is expected to face live pitching Monday at Yankee Stadium, essentially the last box for him to check — other than building up his stamina — before he returns from a right rib stress fracture, likely at some point this week. asserted
he → expect → point
Try it freeAs of Sunday, the Yankees were still figuring out who would actually be throwing to Judge, but it will be his first time facing a live arm as he hopes to skip a rehab assignment in favor of returning sooner after spending three-plus months on the injured list. asserted
he → try → list
The captain indicated Friday that he would likely need to face live pitching “a couple” of times before he is activated, which would seem to rule him out for Tuesday’s series opener against the Rockies. asserted
which → indicate → Rockies
But Aaron Boone would not say if Tuesday was unrealistic for Judge’s return. asserted
Tuesday → say → return
“I don’t know,” Boone said. asserted
Boone → know → ?
“We’ll see.” asserted
We → see → ?
Before Sunday’s game, Judge ran the bases again and did defensive work in right field. asserted
Judge → run → field
Jasson Domínguez, who will likely be headed right back to Triple-A as soon as Judge is activated, started in right field Sunday and made a brutal fielding error, though it did not end up costing the Yankees. asserted
it → head → Yankees
Dustin Harris led off with a single to right that took a few bounces to get to Domínguez before he simply whiffed on it, as the ball rolled all the way to the wall and Harris took two extra bases. asserted
Harris → lead → bases
“Obviously a play you’ve got to make. asserted
you → get → play
Didn’t make it,” Boone said. asserted
Boone → make → it
“Fortunately we were able to get out of that inning, but just didn’t make the play.” asserted
we → get → play
Gerrit Cole was able to strand Harris at third, picking up Domínguez, who went 1-for-4. asserted
who → strand → 1
Asked if he had a conversation with Domínguez about the play in the dugout, Boone said no. asserted
Boone → ask → dugout
“Errors happen. asserted
Errors → happen → ?
You’ve got to catch the ball, obviously,” Boone said. asserted
Boone → get → ball
“I don’t know what the conversation would be other than, ‘Let’s go.’” asserted
’s → know → ?
- WinCraft insulated can coolers - Team Effort driver head cover - 47 Brand adjustable cap - Customizable jersey - Logo fleece blanket - 14-ounce sculpted relief coffee mug It will not be Clarke Schmidt pitching to Judge, as the right-hander made his third rehab appearance Sunday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. asserted
hander → pitch → A
He tossed two scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout while throwing on three days of rest. asserted
He → toss → rest
Boone said Schmidt would need “at least a couple more” rehab outings before he could join the Yankees bullpen. uncertain
he → say → bullpen
Ryan Weathers (left forearm flexor strain) began his throwing program Saturday following a two-week shutdown. … asserted
Weathers → begin → shutdown
Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) has been hitting, with the Yankees not yet ready to rule him out for the rest of the year, though it remains unlikely. asserted
it → hit → year
Former Yankee Michael King used Judge’s walk-up song — Pop Smoke’s “Hello” — as his own warmup music Sunday, seemingly a tribute to the slugger on the verge of his return. asserted
King → use → return
After having him in the bullpen this weekend but not using him, the Yankees optioned Elmer Rodriguez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. asserted
Yankees → have → A
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