Although Aaron Judge may not be playing in this year's 2023 MLB All-Star Game, the honor of being voted into the American League squad for the fifth time in his career is no less impactful.

On Sunday evening, the Yankees captain shared a message on social media addressing his absence from this year’s Midsummer Classic, stating that he plans on taking the break “to heal and rehab so I can get back on the field for my team and all of you.”

Judge has been sidelined with a right toe injury since a collision with the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium back on June 3, but before that he was off to a scorching start.

Through his first 49 games of the year, Judge has slashed .291/.404/.674 with 19 home runs and 40 RBI while posting an OPS+ of 194 and 2.3 bWAR.

“I wish I was still playing right now and not on the injured list,” Judge told Meredith Marakovits after learning he’d been named an All-Star for the fifth time. “Never take a moment like this for granted, especially with all the hard work that gets put in in the offseason to get to this point.”

Judge has recently made promising progress on his road to recovery participating in some long-toss and hitting drills, as well as light jogging on an “anti-gravity treadmill” as Justin Shackil reported last week.

The Bombers closed out the first half of their 2023 season with a 49-42 record, trailing the Rays for the division lead by 8.0 games. Along with Judge, teammate Gerrit Cole was also selected to represent the Yankees as an All-Star this season, marking his sixth time earning the honor.

The 2023 MLB All-Star Game is set to take place Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. For more information visit the link here.