The painstaking wait continues to see how long the Yankees will be without one of the best players in baseball.

Aaron Judge underwent an additional MRI on Wednesday night and a CT scan and X-ray on Thursday morning, all in search of a definitive diagnosis for the pain the back-to-back AL MVP is feeling near his right rib cage. As of midday Thursday, the Yankees were still waiting for doctors to read those latest images to know what they are dealing with.

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Judge has swelling in that area, which has made it more difficult to determine exactly what is going on.

“Trust me, I want to know I think even more than you,” manager Aaron Boone said before the series finale against the Guardians. “But I just think it’s a complicated spot and there’s some edema that complicates how they look at it. I’m obviously not a doctor, I don’t know how it all works, but there’s a lot of people involved trying to make sure we get the right diagnosis. I do expect that here soon.”

Boone said Judge described himself as “feeling a little bit better,” after getting treatment and starting some medicine this week.

“But at the same time, we’re all waiting for, what is it [and] what’s the course of action? That’s where we all are,” Boone said.

Thursday marks the last day the Yankees can place Judge on the injured list retroactively (up to three days back) and not waste any days in between. Of course, that would only matter if it is something where he has a chance of only missing the minimum 10 days and not something more serious.

Judge got initial testing on Monday, saw the Yankees’ team doctor on Tuesday and a specialist on Wednesday, then got more testing Wednesday and Thursday. Given all of that, an IL stint seems likely, but Boone was asked what the team would need to hear to have Judge avoid it.

“Probably that it’s a bone bruise and if he continues to feel alright, we could see him in play in the next couple days,” Boone said.

That, of course, would be the best-case scenario for the face of the franchise, who the Yankees lean so heavily on for their success.

“You want to know the diagnosis,” Boone said. “You know he’s gone through tests and there’s ultimately, the inconclusive part to this point. I want to know, I think, as much or more than all of you even. But medical, orthopedic, it’s complicated sometimes. Just trying to remain patient with it and hope for the best.”