Yankees’ Aaron Judge remains on a path toward an August return after rib fracture evaluation

The Yankees continue to map out a return timeline for captain Aaron Judge as he recovers from a fractured rib. In an update Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone said Judge could still be “a couple weeks” away from reimaging his injury, a detail that points to the possibility of an August return rather than a near-term comeback.

Rib fractures can affect more than just swing mechanics. Even when a player feels better, teams often use follow-up imaging to confirm healing before ramping up activity, especially for a hitter whose timing depends on a stable torso and controlled rotation. Boone’s comment frames the Yankees’ next step as diagnostic rather than purely symptom-based.

The practicality of the Yankees’ approach is straightforward. If reimaging is completed in the coming weeks, the team can then decide how quickly Judge can progress through hitting work, conditioning, and game readiness. That sequence usually determines whether a return targets the early part of a month or something later, which is why the “couple weeks” language carries real scheduling weight.

Judge’s status is not being treated as a simple day-to-day question. The timing Boone described suggests the Yankees are aligning roster decisions around a medical checkpoint that must come first. Until that checkpoint is cleared, the captain’s availability remains uncertain, even if he is making recovery strides.

For New York, Judge is not just a power presence, he is also the centerpiece of the lineup and a stabilizing figure in late-game at-bats. That is why the club’s handling of his timeline matters to more than the next series. It shapes how the Yankees balance rest days, offensive assignments, and the overall structure of their batting order while they wait.

Boone’s remarks also offer a framework for what to monitor next. The key development is whether Judge can complete the reimaging process on schedule and, from there, move into the later stages of baseball activity. Once the imaging is done, the Yankees’ subsequent decisions will likely reflect how the recovery is progressing rather than a fixed calendar.

As the Yankees continue their season, the focus will be on turning the medical timeline into baseball readiness. If the reimaging occurs on the “couple weeks” scale, August becomes a realistic target for Judge’s return, but the plan still depends on what the imaging shows and how quickly he can safely build back to full workload.