OAKLAND, Calif. — Juan Soto missed Friday's pitching appearance after making a sliding catch Thursday, but he didn't play the entire game.
Soto left the Yankees game late on Friday because of swelling and pain in his left knee, which he'd slammed into a wall at T-Mobile Park the previous day, but appeared well enough to enter as a pinch hitter in the 10th inning.
To the surprise of no one, Soto came through in a dramatic moment, hitting an RBI double down the stretch that sealed the Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Athletics at the Coliseum.
X-rays on Soto's knee came back normal, but swelling and pain remained after pregame treatment and practice on Friday, so the Yankees opted to be cautious and keep Soto on the bench, at least for the start of the game.
“I think it's best not to play him tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game.
With just over a week left in the regular season, the Yankees are heading into October on a roll, having won the AL East, but they can't afford to be without Soto for an extended period of time.
“excessively [concerned about it long-term]” Boone said. ” [director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuk]”It's not a long-term concern for him here. It's day-to-day. Hopefully, he'll be available tonight in some capacity.”
In retrospect, the Yankees would have been better off letting Soto drop the ball and foul it out in the bottom of the seventh while trailing the Mariners 3-2, rather than putting his body at risk, especially at this point in the season.
But with less than two months until free agency and a lot at stake, that's easier said than done for Soto.
“It's just the adrenaline of the game,” Soto said Thursday. “Just trying to keep it on the line and do my best. They've been talking about free agency and all that stuff, but when I step on the line I forget all that. I'm literally just focused on the game. I'm just trying to win games so my team can do their best.”
Boone also said Soto could have prevented a worse outcome by sliding into the wall.
“Guys know better than you'd think how to protect themselves and play smart in certain situations,” Boone said. “I actually think him going down like that protected him a little bit. Obviously, he's bruised and out today, but the way he did it avoided a bad situation.”
It was a ball very similar to the one Aaron Judge caught at Dodger Stadium last June, when Judge paid the price by stubbing his toe on the uncushioned base of the wall.
Judge claimed she was fine that night but missed the next day and subsequent tests revealed she had torn ligaments in her toe.
Soto acknowledged Thursday that he was “really concerned” about his knee when the play occurred, but that the pain gradually subsided over the final two innings of the game.
Still, there was some concern, with the star right fielder saying he felt the ball hit him while he was running and while he was trying to swing (he didn't get another turn at bat in the order).
