Aaron Judge had been back for six games and looked like a man who had not swung a bat in three months. Then he hit a ball 415 feet and reminded everyone what October could look like.
Judge launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning of Monday’s 8-3 win at Target Field, his first home run since May 24. It came in his 21st at-bat since returning from a stress fracture in his right ribcage that cost him three months.
The details: off Twins left-hander A.J. Minter, on a 2-2 cutter, at a 36-degree launch angle, 415 feet. It made the score 7-2 and capped a six-run inning.
Before that swing on Monday he was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a double-play grounder. Entering the night he was 3-for-17 with a walk and nine strikeouts since activation on Sept. 8.
It was his 18th home run of 2026.
The Yankees clinched while the game was still going
New York locked up a playoff spot mid-game, when Toronto lost 6-5 to Detroit.
It is the franchise’s record 61st postseason berth and its ninth in the past 10 seasons. It is also the eighth playoff trip in Aaron Boone’s nine years as manager, and the third in a row.
Sixty-one. No other franchise in American sports has a number like that.
The win itself
The Yankees trailed before the eighth. Jose Caballero tied it with an RBI single, Ben Rice followed with a two-run single, and then Judge did the rest.
Josh Bell homered for Minnesota, his 20th of the season.
New York sits at 87-63, comfortably in the bracket but chasing Tampa Bay for the AL East. The Rays are 90-59 and will be difficult to catch in two weeks.
Judge is the whole October question
Here is the honest read on the Yankees’ postseason chances: it comes down to whether Judge’s bat is actually back.
A captain who missed three months and has one impactful extra-base swing in six games is not a settled situation. Ribcage injuries affect rotation, and rotation is everything for a hitter whose power comes from a 6-foot-7 frame generating torque.
One homer off a reliever in a game the Yankees already led does not answer the question. It is evidence, not proof.
What it does give New York is two weeks of regular season at-bats to find out. That is the entire purpose of the rest of September for this team. The Yankees are in. The seeding is close to settled. The only variable that matters is whether the best hitter of his generation is going to look like himself in the first week of October.
Monday night was a reasonable start.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.