YANKEES LEAVE AARON JUDGE OFF ALDS ROSTER AGAINST RAYS
The New York Yankees left Aaron Judge off their roster for the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, selecting Giancarlo Stanton in his place because of Judge's injury, according to the reports. Judge has been out since 18 September and missed the Yankees' wild-card round win over the Boston Red Sox. Rays manager Kevin Cash said he respected what Judge means to the Yankees but added that Major League Baseball "needs to see its best players playing on a stage like this," describing the situation as "certain disappointment." Cash also said that not having Judge "lurking on the bench or coming around hitting second or third is probably a benefit" for Tampa Bay. He made the comments during a press conference ahead of the series.
Cash described Judge as "the best player in our sport" ahead of the matchup. Judge's pull with audiences has been evident before: his pursuit of Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 2022 helped a Yankees-Red Sox game draw 3.23 million viewers on Fox, the most watched regular-season game of that season, according to Sports Media Watch. His 62nd home run that year drew a peak audience of 933,000 on the YES Network, which averaged 636,000 viewers for the broadcast, the network's best Yankees audience since 2009, Sports Business Journal reported. That home run was hit in front of 38,832 fans at Globe Life Field. His win in the 2017 Home Run Derby drew 8.69 million viewers across ESPN platforms, 55% higher than the previous year, according to CBS Baltimore.
Judge's appeal extended to a June 2025 game between the Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which he shared the field with Shohei Ohtani; that broadcast drew 3.1 million viewers on ESPN, the most watched Sunday Night Baseball game in seven years, Front Office Sports reported. His absence from the ALDS removes one of baseball's most watched players from the postseason stage. Cash's comments indicate the Rays view Judge's absence as an advantage for Tampa Bay in the series. Stanton has been named to the roster in Judge's place for the games against the Rays.