The New York Yankees held their breath in the sixth inning of last night’s 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins, as it was revealed that outfielder Juan Soto was removed from the game with left forearm tightness. Immediately, the minds of many fans and analysts went to a potential UCL issue, as the Yankees saw another dynamic outfielder go down last season when Jasson Dominguez tore his in September. With nerves at an all-time high, Jon Heyman of the New York Post revealed that it will just be some inflammation for the star outfielder, although a radiologist will review to make sure.
He should be okay, and that’s a massive sigh of relief for the Yankees and their fanbase as they avoided what could have been a disaster scenario.
Juan Soto’s MRI Reveals Only Inflammation, Yankees Catch a Break
Yesterday could have gone down in infamy for the Yankees, as Juan Soto was pulled from the game during the rain delay with forearm inflammation. While he won’t play tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of this star-studded three-game set, he doesn’t have the devastating UCL damage diagnosis that immediately worried fans when the news came out.
He is still dealing with something there, as doctors are describing it as inflammation, and the Yankees will likely be cautious with inserting Soto back into the lineup in the next couple of days. It’s impossible to argue that Juan Soto hasn’t impacted this team greatly, as his 190 wRC+ and 4.1 fWAR are only marginally outdone by his teammate and co-star Aaron Judge.
This has been a dream season for the Yankees and Juan Soto, who hold a 4.5-game lead in the AL East and won’t have to worry about what could have been with that forearm issue. It’s unclear if the Yankees would consider placing him on the 10-day IL or not, but it seems like a very minor issue for the superstar outfielder. Trent Grisham will start in his place, as he’ll try to keep the team afloat in a series against one of the best teams in baseball.
Cody Poteet goes up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the first game of this series kicks off at 7:05 PM EST.