Aaron Judge's Timeline to Return to Yankees from Rib Injury Discussed by Brian Cashman

The New York Yankees are still waiting on star Aaron Judge to return from his rib injury, and general manager Brian Cashman is "optimistic" he'll be back before the end of the season.

"We currently are still very optimistic that he's going to return, but there's challenges with all that too," Cashman told reporters. "... There's a very high likelihood that he fits the time frame to come back and join us. That's what I'm hoping and holding onto."

Judge hasn't played since May 31 because of a rib injury, and the Yankees haven't indicated how close he is to a return. Judge said before the All-Star break that "some progress," but the rib was not yet "fully healed." The Yankees transferred him to the 60-day injured list on July 18.

"We're still waiting on one more doctor to take a look at it, kind of see how we progress forward the next couple weeks," Judge said, per Hoch. "But definitely a positive sign that we're seeing some healing."

Before the injury, Judge was slashing .248/.375/.533 with 17 homers and 38 RBI.

Manager Aaron Boone said on Sunday that Judge had completed a running session, but there is still no date set for additional imaging, which will determine when he can return to baseball activities.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Judge isn't the only key injury they're dealing with.

Cody Bellinger suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain last week and will miss four to six weeks. Giancarlo Stanton has been out since April with a calf injury but took live batting practice on Sunday.

The Yankees made some moves ahead of the deadline, including trades for Heliot Ramos and Luis García Jr.

Even with Judge and others out, New York has managed to stay afloat and is currently sitting 6.5 games ahead in the wild-card race at 63-49. The Yankees' playoff hopes, however, rely heavily on Judge's return.