Aaron Judge is gearing up to lead Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. But once the MLB season begins, he'll be trying to take the New York Yankees back to the World Series.
The only roadblock is a pesky elbow injury Judge dealt with throughout the 2025 season. However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone doesn't believe the injury issue will linger into 2026, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
“He has ramped up his throwing program a little bit more because he’s getting ready for the WBC, so he’s ahead of the game moreso than he even normally is, from a throwing standpoint,” Boone said. “But I know it’s going really well for him. He feels ready to go right away in camp.”
Judge dealt with an elbow injury that forced him to the injured list. When he did make his return, he was forced to stick at designated hitter. Only as the year went on did Judge re-gain his outfield responsibilities.
Heading into 2026, that doesn't seem to be a problem. It seems unlikely Judge would be willing to compete in the WBC if he were still injured. The Yankees will be counting on him to once again lead their offense upon his return from competition.
Simply put, that won't be a problem for Judge. He's coming off of a 2025 campaign that saw him win AL MVP after hitting .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs. It was his second-straight and third overall MVP award. Over his 10-year career, Judge has hit .294 with 368 home runs and 830 RBIs.
If the Yankees truly want to compete for a World Series, they need Judge to be healthy. By all measures, that looks to be the case in 2026.
