Source: Judge not on Yankees' roster for ALDS vs. Rays

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  Jorge CastilloOct 3, 2026, 10:17 AM ET

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  ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Aaron Judge will not be on the New York Yankees' roster for the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, a source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.

The Yankees had until Saturday at 10 a.m. to submit their 26-man roster. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 6:38 p.m. at Tropicana Field.

Judge has not played in a game since straining the soleus muscle in his right calf on Sept. 16. He was placed on the injured list three days later, received a platelet-poor plasma injection to boost healing before resuming baseball activities as the regular season concluded. All along he voiced his determination to be ready for the start of the regular season.

He proceeded to face live pitching for the first time Monday -- the night before rosters for the wild-card series were to be submitted -- as he pushed to convince the team he was ready. Team officials considered including Judge on the roster, but they informed that tonight that they would proceed without him. New York still routed the Boston Red Sox, outscoring their rivals 18-2 in a two-game sweep at Yankee Stadium to advance to the ALDS -- and give Judge another shot to play again in 2026.

Judge seemingly made progress this week. He ran in right field before Game 1 of the wild-card series on Tuesday. He took live batting practice again at the organization's Double-A affiliate on Wednesday before Game 2 and again at Yankee Stadium on Thursday before the team flew to Florida. He participated in workouts Friday at the team's minor-league complex in Tampa and, later on, the club's main workout at Tropicana Field where he took batting practice on the field with teammates but did not run on the field.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Friday said Tropicana Field's turf surface would factor into the team's decision-making "a little bit" and hinted at the possibility of carrying Judge on the roster but him being limited early in the series. Ultimately, the Yankees decided to move forward without him again.

The YES Network first reported the Yankees' decision not to include Judge on the roster.