‘He’s my brother’: Aaron Judge, Yankees visit Oswaldo Cabrera at hospital after gruesome injury

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SEATTLE — Aaron Judge sat in a chair in the corner of the hospital room. Oswaldo Cabrera was on the bed. He was still in his New York Yankees uniform, his jersey unbuttoned, his left foot in a brace. Cabrera had fractured his ankle in a gruesome play hours before in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 11-5 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night. Judge needed to see him.

“He’s my brother,” Judge said.

A crew of Yankees players, coaches and staff visited Cabrera overnight at Harborview Medical Center, a public hospital about a mile away from T-Mobile Park.

It’s unclear when Cabrera will be able to play again. Doctors decided he didn’t need emergency surgery, and he was cleared to leave the hospital in the middle of the night. He met the Yankees back at their luxury hotel overlooking Puget Sound on Tuesday morning. He spent time in the lobby chatting with his teammates. He had breakfast with them before getting on a flight back to New York, where he’ll see a doctor Wednesday and likely have surgery Thursday.

But overnight, there was an outpouring of in-person love from his Yankees teammates. Most of them were admitted into his room by groups of two. They went in waves. A group went almost immediately after the Yankees’ win. Some visited in the early morning hours.

Cabrera, known throughout the clubhouse for his infectious smile, beamed at the sight of them.

“He was up,” Judge said. “He was in Cabby spirits. Good mood. Excited. Smile on his face. I think he was a little groggy with some of the medicines they gave him. But he was being Oswaldo, that’s for sure.”

Sending all of our love to Oswaldo 💙 pic.twitter.com/zK0g1KsIKU

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 13, 2025

Aaron Boone said the point was to lighten Cabrera’s mood, yet he was “making us feel good.”

“I would say he was doing great,” Boone said. “It’s Cabby. He was smiling. Happy. Trust he’s in good hands.”

One Yankees player who visited with Cabrera and asked to remain anonymous said the dirt behind home plate where Cabrera injured himself was “so hard back there. Just terrible.” Another said it helped lighten the mood that Cabrera cracked a few jokes with his teammates in the hospital room.

Cabrera suffered the injury when he tried to change directions to touch home plate and score on Judge’s sacrifice fly to right field. Cabrera tagged up from third base, and the throw brought catcher Cal Raleigh up the line. Cabrera dodged him, careful not to run into him. But the Venezuela native ended up running past home plate. When he planted his foot to change directions, his ankle buckled.

Still, he reached across to home plate and scored a run. A Yankees trainer and stadium medical personnel tended to him while he was on the ground. His teammates gathered around him. After a few minutes, Cabrera was taken away via ambulance.

“One of the dark sides of the game,” infielder DJ LeMahieu said. “Super unfortunate. Great guy. Great player. Just really unfortunate.”

Still, it was a bonding moment for the Yankees. After the game, outfielder Trent Grisham shed a tear recalling how much Cabrera means to him.

The Yankees also wanted to visit Cabrera because he was alone aside from the Yankees trainer who accompanied him to the hospital. None of his family made the trip to Seattle with him. Cabrera got engaged in spring training.

What made it more heartbreaking for the Yankees was that Cabrera was finally getting a chance to play full-time and helping them win. Cabrera has played four major-league seasons, mostly as a utilityman. He’s started 30 of the Yankees’ 41 games this year, hitting .243 with a home run, 11 RBIs and a .631 OPS while providing solid defense, mostly at third base.

It was unclear how long Cabrera might be out. He could miss the entire season. Boone said the Yankees would know more after Cabrera has surgery.

It’s likely that the Yankees will turn to LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes to fill Cabrera’s spot. The Yankees are also hoping that Jazz Chisholm Jr. (oblique) will return soon from the injured list. Boone said he doesn’t plan to ask Chisholm to consider playing third base right away, though he performed well at the position in his first try at it last season. Boone didn’t rule it out, though.

“Not right now, no,” Boone said. “The biggest thing is I want (Chisholm) to get going and we’ll see where we are when he’s up and running.”

But the future wasn’t on the Yankees’ minds so much. They were thinking about Cabrera, who has in many ways been the soul of the team with his wide smile, energetic play and willingness to play anywhere.

“We’re his family,” Judge said. “I feel like if you get hurt, someone’s got to be at the hospital for you. I just felt it was important to be there, even if it’s me just sitting in the corner, I’m there for him.

“Even if it’s just having a familiar face, being on the other coast. You’ve got to be there for your teammates, through the good times when everything is going great and through the bad times, when things are going bad. It’s something I know that he would do for me.”

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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