Daily Report – 9/17/26
Yankees
It wasn’t his rib this time, but it is just as concerning, because the Yankees have only 10 games left before the postseason. Suddenly, winning the division is no longer the priority. Once again, Aaron Judge’s season might be over, and with it, the Yankees’ championship dreams.
This season has been an everlasting cycle of injuries. Every time an injured player nears his return, another goes down. Most recently, days before Aaron Judge returned, Trent Grisham landed on the injured list.
Devastating setbacks have also persisted during several players’ rehabs. This trend goes back to the lower-body injury Carlos Rodón suffered in the spring, which delayed his return from offseason surgery.
Then, Max Fried returned from the injured list before landing back on it a few weeks later. He’s back with the Yankees now, but it wasn’t easy.
Don’t forget Giancarlo Stanton, who strained his calf in April, strained it again several weeks later, and strained the other calf several weeks after that.
Now, Aaron Judge, who made his triumphant return last week after missing 84 games with a broken rib, has a lower leg injury. He exited yesterday’s game in the sixth inning with “lower leg tightness,” according to the Yankees. It looked like a calf strain, but Judge would not confirm.
“I feel like [I] deal with this every Spring Training,” Judge said, possibly downplaying his injury. “Usually at the start of the season, once you start ramping up again, things pop up, and that’s where we’ve been. Thankfully, this whole time coming back, nothing’s really nagged us.”
Judge said he first felt the injury in the first inning, but that is hard to believe since he got Tuesday off. He was going to miss one of the three games in Minnesota anyway, but the Yankees, who are off today, usually like to stack their players’ off days.
The first evidence of Judge’s injury was when he grimaced during his third-inning at-bat. Then, while playing defense in the fifth inning, a camera caught him limping around in right field.
“I tried to play it off and see how long we could go, because these are important games down the stretch,” Judge said. “But talking it over, I thought it would be the right move to come out so we don’t cost the team in the field or on the basepaths.”
The Yankees dragged yesterday’s game 13 innings before a misplay by George Lombard Jr. helped the Minnesota Twins walk it off 5-4.
In the top of the 12th inning, the Yankees had a chance to do damage with the bases loaded and nobody out. But Heliot Ramos, who pinch-hit for Judge in the sixth, grounded into a brutal double play.
When that happens, the road team can only ask so much from its bullpen. John Schreiber did his job in the 13th by getting a ground ball, but Lombard whiffed on the dribbler. He is ultimately responsible for the Yankees’ league-leading, franchise record-setting, eighth extra-innings loss.
On the mound, Carlos Rodón labored through six innings. He walked three batters and permitted five hits, but gave up two runs. His velocity dipped early, and the Twins scored in the opening inning, but Rodón bounced back. Surprisingly, in 25 straight starts, he hasn’t allowed more than three runs, the longest streak in Yankees history.
“It’s one of those days where the stuff wasn’t great off the bat,” said Rodón, who did all he could to give his team a chance to win. “Just tried to go out there and get outs. Defensively, we played well. It was a tight game. […] In the end, we lost, but I liked the fight out of us.”
The Yankees loaded the bases in the eighth inning, but couldn’t score. They entered the ninth down 2-0 with former Yankee Yoendrys Gómez on the mound, who had won his last 21 save opportunities. But this time, a single by Lombard, a two-out single by Paul Goldschmidt, and a two-run double by Anthony Volpe ended Gómez’s streak.
Volpe’s hit would have been a home run at Yankee Stadium. Nevertheless, it gave the Yankees enough momentum to score in the 10th and 11th innings. However, David Bednar allowed a game-tying run in each frame, and once the Yankees left the bases loaded in the 12th, the game was all but over.
If only that were the headline. If only the Yankees’ biggest issue yesterday was the 13 men they left on base, or Lombard’s latest defensive blunder. But no, it’s worse. Much worse. Because as we await an update on Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ entire season hangs in the balance.
The Yankees are off today. Tomorrow at 9:40 PM (8:40 PM CDT), they will begin a three-game series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks (YES, Gotham Sports).
Schedule
8:15 PM (7:15 PM CDT): Thursday Night Football (TNF), Week 2 – Detroit Lions (1-0) at Buffalo Bills (1-0); Prime Video
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
