Aaron Judge Injury News Lessens Yankees' Threat to Diamondbacks

It's a right calf strain for Judge, and as such, the Diamondbacks will have one less power bat to keep an eye on in the Yankees' lineup.

That could end up being most helpful for game one , in which Arizona is sending a left-handed starter out in Eduardo Rodriguez.

Diamondbacks catch small break with Judge injury

It hasn't exactly been the same type of MVP-level year for Judge in 2026, but that has mostly been due to injury. He's hit .241/.360/.511 with an .871 OPS with just 18 home runs, but he's only played in 66 games.

Judge went down with a right rib stress fracture back on June 2, and sat out until September 7. He only managed to get into seven games before suffering the calf injury.

The three-time AL MVP has a 160 wRC+ (60% above league average) against left-handers this season, and a career 182 wRC+ against southpaws.

It's not that his 173 career wRC+ against right-handers is that much less of a threat, but his absence from the Yankees' lineup will make things easier on Rodriguez on Friday night.

Rodriguez is looking for a bounce-back after being knocked around for six runs (only three earned) against the Texas Rangers in his most recent start.

It's not as if Judge's absence saps too much of New York's strength. The Yankees still rank 11th in team OPS (.721), hit the second-most homers in baseball (209) and slug at a seventh-best .409 clip.

The Diamondbacks are quite far behind in all those categories. Arizona has a team OPS of .713, which ranks 20th in the majors. They've hit the 26th-most home runs (154) and slug just .397, which also ranks 20th.

Arizona is going to have its hands full regardless of Judge's (lack of) presence.