{"id":123855,"date":"2026-06-16T19:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=123855"},"modified":"2026-06-16T19:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:30:32","slug":"yankees-lineup-performing-without-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/16\/yankees-lineup-performing-without-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Lineup Getting the Job Done Without Judge, Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

When New York Yankees superstar and team captain Aaron Judge went down with a rib fracture<\/a> in early June, the news came as bittersweet to the fanbase. On the one hand, Judge and the team seemingly avoided the worst. What was initially feared to be thoracic outlet syndrome and an even longer absence turned into a recovery time of approximately two months. On the other hand, that is a long time for the Yankees’ lineup to be without the best hitter in baseball. Even though fans can rest assured that Judge will be back later this season, apprehension and even despair surrounded the news of Judge’s stint on the injured list.<\/p>\n

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Judge isn’t the only prominent Yankee to hit the shelf in recent weeks, either. Perhaps most notably, Giancarlo Stanton appeared to suffer a setback<\/a> this week while rehabbing from a calf strain, which has kept him out since late April. Earlier in the week, Trent Grisham<\/a>, who had gotten some big hits in early June, landed on the IL with a hamstring strain<\/a>. Before that, Austin Wells<\/a> was shelved after experiencing cervical headaches<\/a>\u00a0and has yet to return.<\/p>\n

To stay afloat in a tight American League East race with the Tampa Bay Rays, the rest of the Yankees lineup would need to step up in the absence of Judge, Stanton, Wells, and Grisham. So far, they’ve done just that, spurring the Bombers to wins in six of their last seven games. In their latest series over the weekend, in which they took two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, two players in particular came up big in clutch moments: Ben Rice<\/a> and Paul Goldschmidt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yankees Lineup Continues to Mash Without Judge, Other Injured Players<\/h2>\n

Rice is Nice<\/h2>\n

Rice has gotten it done all season in what has been a breakout year for the young first baseman\/catcher. His latest heroics came on Sunday, when he hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie. After Jos\u00e9 Caballero<\/a> added a three-run homer later in the inning, the Yankees came away with an 8-3 victory to clinch the series win. In his last 15 games, Rice has slashed .317\/.414\/.600 with three homers and 13 RBI. While most of that output came during the first week of that stretch, Sunday’s homer was the latest example of Rice’s clutch abilities in what is sure to be his first All-Star season.<\/p>\n

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BEN RICE GO-AHEAD HOMER IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com\/mQMtnZoe7H<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n