PHOENIX (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge still hopes to play October baseball this season. It remains to be seen if his body will allow that to happen.
The three-time AL MVP said on Saturday that he has a strained soleus muscle, which is in a lower part of the calf and affects his ability to run. Judge added that he's continuing to throw and will go through as many workouts as possible so he's ready to contribute if he can return.
“I'd like to be back by the postseason,” the eight-time All-Star said Saturday after he was placed on the 10-day injured list, a move retroactive to Thursday. “I've got really no answers for you on any timeline or anything like that.”
Judge is eligible to be activated for the Yankees' regular-season finale on Sept. 27.
He was removed for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning Wednesday during a game at Minnesota because of the discomfort in his leg. Judge said at the time it was a precautionary move, but manager Aaron Boone said symptoms persisted and an MRI showed the strain.
Judge was 4 for 23 with 13 strikeouts and one extra-base hit in seven games since returning last week from a broken rib, which kept him out of the lineup for more than three months. He's played just 66 games this year.
“I’ve dealt with strains before and played through them, but this was kind of in a different spot where it made it a little more difficult, Judge said. ”Definitely frustrated because the ultimate goal was to come back, get a couple games in before the postseason. So it changes it a little bit, but the focus is still the same.”
New York entered Saturday with a 48-39 record in the games Judge has missed this season and a 41-25 mark in games he’s played.
“I'm hoping for the best, but just depends on how the healing goes and what he's able to do as the weeks unfold,” Boone said. “I'm not going to speculate on that. We'll see.”
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New York Yankees' Aaron Judge walks back to the dugout after the bottom of the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge reacts after striking out during the third inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Injured New York Yankees' Aaron Judge pauses on the field after a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ed Sheeran is set to resume his tour Saturday — possibly solo — after all his supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.
It remains to be seen how Sheeran will handle the performance at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field given the departure of his opening acts and supporting band. Sheeran has performed much of his Loop Tour concerts solo, but he had been joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga. Macklemore, Sheeran’s original U.S. opener, had been replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out.
Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out earlier this week.
Sheeran has not said anything publicly since losing the artists' support. As of Saturday afternoon, tickets were still available for the show, and his website did not list any replacement acts.
A group of about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium before the show. Hillary Steinberg, 34, of Philadelphia, said she got tickets a year ago but wound up getting a refund and attending the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.
“I was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,” Steinberg said. “I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice — even though he was saying that he wasn’t complicit — is a political choice.”
The show comes after a tumultuous week that opened with Macklemore being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a Sept. 5 show in New Jersey. Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.
Within hours of Sheeran's statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.
Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old concertgoer from Stroudsburg, got her tickets to the show months ago and is a big Sheeran fan. She said she does not think that he did anything wrong or that a concert is the place for politics.
“A concert should be for people enjoying the music. Music should bring people together,” Savitz said. “Everyone has their right to freedom of speech, but not every platform is the place for it.”
Macklemore said Wednesday he is donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran's representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Sheeran’s Loop Tour was the highest-grossing in the world, with an average box office gross of over $7 million per city, Pollstar said in May. Through the end of 2025, Sheeran was the No. 3 top-earning concert act since 2021.
Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.
The Grammy winner was adamant in his Tuesday statement that he wouldn't be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear about these issues.
He also said he “spoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge” before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.
While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran's magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.
Associated Press journalist Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.
Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP Photo)
FILE - Ed Sheeran attends the Time100 Gala, in New York on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
