It’s almost three months into the 2026 regular season, and the New York Yankees already look like an entirely different team than they did in March. Of course, the huge blow was losing Aaron Judge, the reigning back-to-back AL MVP, to a stress fracture in his ribs; New York’s captain shouldn’t miss the entire season, but he’ll be out for the majority of the Yankees’ remaining games. Then there’s Giancarlo Stanton, who has been on the IL for a month and hasn’t appeared in a game since April 24. The 36-year-old was supposed to return after a month or so, but MLB.com‘s Bryan Hoch wrote on Saturday that, according to manager Aaron Boone, Stanton “experienced a setback in his recovery from a left calf strain and could undergo additional imaging”. Stanton is now looking at a much longer timeline for the IL than the Yankees originally stated.
The Yankees Can’t Stop The Injury Bug Amid Stanton’s Setback
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for New York: not only have they also lost arguably their best (and most expensive) pitcher in Max Fried, but outfielder Trent Grisham and catcher Austin Wells have also recently joined the ranks of injured Yankees. Amid all of these losses for a team that was expected to be near the top of the American League, the good news is that they actually are at the top of the AL: their 43-27 gives them the best record in the American League, just one game above the 41-27 Tampa Bay Rays. Still, the Yankees can’t help but wonder just how much further ahead of the pack they would be if it weren’t for the injury bug.
The Bright Side
Of course, they won’t be the same team for a few months, but it’s still way too early to count out a Yankee team that is missing a few of its most key contributors. In fact, the Yankees are really doing just fine with their “backups” taking over. All of these injuries have given guys like Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones, two of the organization’s most polarizing young players, opportunities to prove their talent at the big-league level. Neither has been particularly impactful thus far, but on a Yankee team that has an average age of about 30, it’s refreshing to see some of the team’s young talent get some playing time.
However, unlike every other team other than perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees are absolutely loaded with talent beyond their top 3-5 players. Losing Fried is a big blow of course, but when you have Cam Schlittler right behind him leading the AL in brWAR (3.8), starts (15), innings (89) and ERA (1.82), all of sudden things don’t look so bad. You could say the same thing about losing Judge, since Ben Rice decided to have a career year that is seeing him lead the AL in runs (51), rank second in MLB in OPS (.998), eighth in homers (19) and 13th in RBI’s (47). In other words, it helps to have stars backing up your superstars.
The Latest Word
Even after receiving a grave update on Stanton’s injury status, the Yankees shouldn’t be too worried about their chances in the AL (at least not yet). It’s important to note that both Grisham and Wells should be back within the next week or two, with Boone confirming their IL stints as being “just extra cautious”. Of course, Yankees fans wish Judge, Fried or even Stanton were coming back that soon, but they’ll just have to rely on their blossoming superstars in Rice and Schlittler to keep them on top of the AL East.
Main Photo Credits: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
