Juan Soto sat out his third straight game on Sunday, but there is optimism about the outfielder’s immediate future.
Manager Aaron Boone said he was “hopeful” Soto would return as the right fielder for Monday’s game at Kansas City, and Soto said he was feeling good after the team’s 6-4 win over the Dodgers.
“Let’s see how it feels. [Monday] “After I got on the plane I had a little practice and I felt good. I did all my work and it was good enough,” Soto said.
Results from an exam conducted by Soto after he was removed following an extended rainout on Thursday because of discomfort in his left forearm were promising for Soto and the team, and Boone said he expects Soto to play defensively and not be limited to DH when he’s ready to play.
“It’s just how he feels,” Boone said. “The results of the test don’t give me any reason to be concerned that he’s going to have any issues baseball-wise.”
The Yankees were without Soto again on Sunday, again with Trent Grisham in center field and Aaron Judge moving from center field to right field.
Soto played every game this season before developing forearm soreness and appeared in all 162 games for the Padres last year.
Judge also homered in the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Dodgers in the series finale, giving him seven homers in his past 10 games and 11 in his past 17 games.
He has also appeared in 10 career games against the Dodgers, hitting eight home runs.
And he nearly added another highlight in the eighth inning when he nearly got Shohei Ohtani out at home plate on Will Smith’s shallow sacrifice fly. … Boone argued that Kiké Hernandez should have been called for interference on a bunt play in the seventh inning when Jose Trevino tripped Hernandez’s foot.
“I want to be more clear,” Boone said of his conversation with home plate umpire Nestor Ceja. “He [Hernández] had some rights [to be where he was]. “
