Juan Soto isn’t buying into what Aaron Boone is now calling “the Aaron Judge treatment.”
After Judge was intentionally walked three more times in Sunday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over Toronto, Soto said he didn’t like that strategy.
“It’s unfortunate because I want him to get up to bat,” Soto said. “I’m doing my best. [get] It’s really infuriating to see them evaluate him and then pass on him. I hate that. I want them to give him a shot and see what he can really do.”
Soto acknowledged that the strategy is “part of the game. They’re trying to win too, so you have to respect that.”
Soto also homered and walked twice, and in the eighth inning, he stunned the Yankees by sliding into second base and grabbing his already bruised right hand.
Soto was watched by the training staff while he was down, but continued to play in the game.
“I’m still rubbing it with my hand,” Soto said. “It definitely still hurts when I touch it. I slipped hard and hit the base. It hurt for a few seconds, but it went away quickly.”
Despite the lingering effects of the injury, Soto continues to thrive.
“You forget about that,” Soto said of his mindset. “Just go out there and swing the bat. Don’t worry about the pain afterwards. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
There is no timetable yet for the return of Jose Trevino, who has been sidelined since suffering a left quad injury on July 12.
Since then, Austin Wells has not only seen more playing time but has also started nearly every game at catcher, which Boone has been keeping a close eye on.
“You have to keep in mind this is a long game. We’ve been hard on him,” Boone said before Sunday’s game. “He’s performing well. … He’s [the opportunity] And then we do it.”
The Yankees fielded a right-handed lineup Sunday against Toronto right-hander Yasiel Rodriguez, who is more effective against lefties, but Boone put Wells in the cleanup role.
Still, without a veteran like Trevino, the Yankees must be wary of expending Wells.
Rookie Carlos Narvaez was promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 13 but made just two starts during that time.
“I called him [Saturday]”But he was pretty adamant about being there,” Boone said of Wells.
Ben Rice, who is filling in for the injured Anthony Rizzo at first base against most right-handed pitching, still does some catching work before games, but the Yankees seem prepared to use Wells late in the innings whether Trevino is healthy or not.
Anthony Volpe has been performing well since being demoted from leadoff hitter in the batting order. Manager Boone said he doesn’t want to put Volpe back in that role, which is why he batted Volpe seventh in the order against the Blue Jays.
But he added: “I’m not ruling anything out.”
But for now, Volpe will remain in the bottom half of the lineup, with Gleyber Torres, who was benched on Friday for a lack of effort, set to bat leadoff again on Sunday.
The shortstop had an OPS of just .650 in the 76 games he was leading the lineup, but in the 24 games since then he has an OPS of .810.
Boone and James Lawson were both ejected by home plate umpire Tripp Gibson in the bottom of the seventh for a questionable strike call on Wells, who finished his at-bat and then Giancarlo Stanton was called for a strike.
Boone was upset that Toronto left-hander Genesis Cabrera had thrown the ball at him, but the manager and the umpire agreed it was unintentional.
Alex Verdugo was not in the lineup, with manager Boone saying the left fielder was “tired.”
When asked to elaborate on what was wrong with Verdugo, Boone said, “He’s fine.”
