Reds Legend Explains Controversial Aaron Judge Decision

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Reds Legend Explains Controversial Aaron Judge Decision

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nicholas Covone | Last updated Sep 8, 2026 4:07 PM ET

On Monday, it was revealed that the New York Yankees would be activating Three-Time American League MVP Aaron Judge from the 60-day injured list.

Judge last played for the Yankees on May 31st due to s right rib stress fracture.

The decision to activate Judge immediately to the Yankees instead of a minor league rehab assignment is controversial, but not surprising. The Yankees offense has been one of the worst units in baseball since the injury to Judge, despite the team keeping the pressure on the Tampa Bay Rays for first place.

Reds Legend and likely future Hall-of-Famer Joey Votto shared with MLB Now his opinions on the decision, stating, “There’s a pretty good chance he’s not coming back at 100%. The timing is perfect in terms of giving him some runway before the playoffs.”

“There’s a pretty good chance he’s not coming back at 100%. The timing is perfect in terms of giving him some runway before the playoffs.”@JoeyVotto shares his expectations for Aaron Judge’s return and recalls a time in his career when he came back before a Postseason run. pic.twitter.com/iXI0FTzspO
— MLB Now (@MLBNow) September 8, 2026

Votto shared a similar experience, where he returned from injury early to prepare for the Postseason in 2022. He said he was not back to his best until the year following despite sharing that it is a good amount of time to readjust.

In the 59 games Judge played this season, he slashed .248/.375/.533/.908 with 17 home runs, 38 RBI and 53 hits. For Judge, this was uncharacteristic, as we are use to seeing the slugger hit over .300 with an OPS north of 1.000.

It will be interesting to see how Judge will effect this Yankees’ team as they prepare to make another run to the World Series.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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