The Yankees’ starting lineup for their second game against the Dodgers this weekend will again be without Juan Soto, with manager Aaron Boone saying he’s “going to wait a couple of days” for the outfielder to return.
Soto left Thursday’s game against the Twins with soreness in his left forearm, but didn’t play after tests on Friday revealed elbow inflammation — and, perhaps more importantly, nothing else — and expressed “relief” after the Yankees lost in extra innings in the series opener against Los Angeles.
Asked if Soto could still be placed on the injured list if he doesn’t improve, Boone said “potentially,” but added that he doesn’t expect that scenario to come to fruition.
“When he’s ready, he’s ready,” Boone said Saturday before the Yankees and Dodgers face off at Yankee Stadium.
Soto had not taken part in any baseball activities when Boone spoke to reporters three hours before first pitch Saturday, but he said he wasn’t sure if that would change.
Boone said he asked Soto, who was receiving treatment, how he was feeling earlier in the afternoon and that Soto said he was OK.
So for the second night in a row, the Yankees started Trent Grisham in center field with Aaron Judge in right field and Alex Verdugo in left field.
But Soto’s absence remains a noticeable absence in the Yankees’ lineup. The 25-year-old was batting .318, second-best in the American League entering Saturday’s games behind the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (.320), and he has hit 17 home runs despite being batted ahead of Judge in the order.
Soto has not missed consecutive games since August 2022, when he missed three straight games with back tightness.
He didn’t miss a single Padres game last year.
He said earlier this week that he’d played about a week and a half to two weeks this year with forearm soreness, adding that it didn’t stop him from doing anything while playing.
This does not mean that his current forearm inflammation has reached a concerning or alarming stage.
But as Soto’s recent absence shows, the opposite doesn’t necessarily translate to an immediate return.
“I think he sees the bigger picture of this,” Boone said, “and I’m sure as much as this environment, this series, it’s hurting him in part not being there.”
“But I think he’s also thinking, ‘I want to get this inflammation under control and move on.'”
