Yankees manager Aaron Boone said his best player avoided a much worse fate in terms of the injury. The team is optimistic he can return to the lineup as soon as he's eligible to be activated from his IL stint. He'll be eased in as the designated hitter to avoid putting too much strain on his elbow.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/yankees as Yankees' Aaron Judge Facing Closest MVP Race in 75 years. Aaron Judge is having another MVP-caliber season for the New York Yankees. But he might not have any hardware to show for it.

With Judge’s playing future up in the air, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is now a -145 AL MVP favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook over the Yankees’ slugger, who dropped to +115. The Bombers’ right fielder will be placed on the injured list and miss at least 10 days, but the team appears to have avoided the worst, according to Boone.