NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees looks on during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 21, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
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The New York Yankees enjoyed a highly anticipated return this week, though it preceded a third-straight divisional loss.
On Friday, the team could celebrate the return of franchise ace Gerrit Cole after a prolonged absence following Tommy John surgery. But a strong outing wasn’t enough to beat the American League East leading Tampa Bay Rays.
“Cole allowed two hits over six shutout innings Friday night in his return from elbow ligament reconstruction surgery,” the Associated Press reported. “He left with a 1-0 lead that the Yankees wasted in a 4-2 loss to the major-league-best Tampa Bay Rays.”
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Though Cole’s performance was encouraging, the Yankees have growing reason for concern about another franchise superstar, as Aaron Judge went hitless in the game and has seen his batting average dip to .245. Judge is now embroiled in an 11-game streak without an RBI, which is a new career low.
“The Yankees can’t thrive without Judge, which explains why they’ve lost 10 of their last 14 while the captain is in an 11-game RBI drought,” Bob Klapisch wrote for NJ.com. “That’s the longest cold snap of Judge’s career. It feels like an eternity. Past performance tells us Judge will regain his stroke sooner or later, but for now it’s like he’s someone else at the plate.”
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As the Yankees look for a return to form from their perennial MVP candidate, the team is weighing a relatively rare option.
“Boone said he'd like to ‘maybe’ get Aaron Judge an off day in KC next week,” the New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips reported.
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Though that’s a pretty rare solution for the Yankees and the team seems like it could use all of the slug it can get during its rough stretch, it might help the slugger reset after starting his season early as part of the World Baseball Classic in March.
“His performance in the tournament suggested he wasn’t quite ready,” Klapisch added. “After blasting a home run in his very first swing, Judge went on to bat .222 in five games, including going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the championship game against Venezuela.”
Though Judge enjoyed a strong start to the Major League Baseball season, perhaps that atypical ramp up is a root cause for the prolonged slump that he is now experiencing. Whatever the cause, the team is getting desperate for his return, and it might push Boone to remove him from the lineup at some point next week.
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