Aaron Judge Yankees Apr 20, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; A view of a fan holding a sign while New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) bats during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees fans have enjoyed the 2024 Major League Baseball season. Juan Soto has delivered in spades, the pitching staff has been great, and the team has the best record in MLB. Still, they’ve done all that without reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole, who is returning to the Yankees on Wednesday.

But as Cole returns, another star is leaving. At least… temporarily.

After injuring his hand on Tuesday night, Aaron Judge is out of the Yankee lineup Wednesday night. According to manager Aaron Boone, the 2022 AL MVP is ‘day-to-day’ with that hand injury.

YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits reported the news on Judge’s status for the evening, which included an update on his prognosis.

“Aaron Judge is not in tonight’s lineup,” Marakovits wrote. “Boone said he considers him day-to-day.”

Judge is one of MLB’s best, and caught absolute fire over the last two months. His presence in the lineup is unmistakable and incredibly valuable. So for the Yankees, who own the best record in the league, a short-term absence is absolutely the preferred option.

Yankee fans who learned the news Wednesday were a bit bristled, but optimism remains.

[Meredith Marakovits]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022