TORONTO — A last-minute substitution saw Juan Soto return to the lineup Sunday.
The Yankees star right fielder arrived at Rogers Centre on Sunday morning with his bruised right hand feeling “much better” and was scheduled to conduct a pregame workout to see if he would be able to play after struggling to swing the bat on Saturday.
The team delayed announcing the roster, but when it finally did, Soto was left out, and then six minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the new roster was announced, with Soto batting second and playing right field.
Then in the top of the first inning, Soto singled to right field and later scored on Aaron Judge’s two-run homer.
“I don’t want him to compromise anything or change his swing,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “If that’s what it comes down to, we’ll wait and see. But he was pretty adamant, ‘I think I can probably do it.’ So we’ll see what’s there when he steps in the cage and then we’ll make a judgment call.”
X-rays on Saturday showed no abnormalities with his hand, but Soto indicated he may undergo further imaging on Monday when the Yankees return to New York, depending on his condition. Since Monday was a rest day, and given how well Soto felt when he swung the bat on Saturday, it would have made sense for the Yankees to allow him another day to let the swelling in his hand go down further.
“I had a lot of pain in my hand,” Soto said. [felt] Every time I swung it was a little weaker, it just felt different. [couldn’t] Even holding a bat. [If] I kept swinging and it started changing my swing, so I stopped. I just couldn’t do it.”
Soto was scheduled to try swinging again Sunday morning, but apparently showed enough improvement that he was returned to the lineup at the last minute.
Soto wore a black bandage on his hand Sunday to reduce swelling from an injury he sustained when he slammed his hand into the ground after sliding into home plate on Friday night.
Boone said the right fielder has made “pretty big improvements” from where he was on Saturday.
“I feel a lot better today,” Soto said. “A lot of therapy, a lot of practice. The trainers have done a really good job getting the swelling down and getting me ready for today.”
