REPORT: Yankees’ Juan Soto gets crucial ending season injury
TORONTO — Juan Soto’s acrobatic slide at home plate during the fourth inning on Friday night marked the first highlight in the Yankees’ 16-run surge.
Soto twisted around catcher Danny Jansen, touching home plate with his left hand while stretching as far as possible before tumbling into foul territory.
This play brought the Yankees their first run of the game and unfortunately led to a new injury concern for Soto.
Soto was scratched from the Yankees’ starting lineup on Saturday due to a bruise on his right hand from the slide, as announced by the team shortly before the game at Rogers Centre.
The outfielder will undergo imaging in Toronto on Saturday.
In Soto’s place, utility man Oswaldo Cabrera will play right field. First baseman Ben Rice has been moved up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order, the highest position he has hit since being called up from Triple-A earlier this month.
Despite the injury, Soto homered in his next at-bat after the slide on Friday night and remained in the game until the final out. However, he appeared to be favoring his right hand following the play at the plate, having landed on his right side quite hard.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are LITERALLY finding every way to score runs themselves 😂 pic.twitter.com/juJau6OO77
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 29, 2024
Although the Yankees didn’t announce that their star player would sit out on Saturday until just before the game, Oswaldo Cabrera was seen taking fly balls in the outfield during the pregame workout. Cabrera frequently practices at various positions, but this could have indicated that Soto was ruled out earlier in the day.
Soto had previously missed three games earlier this month due to discomfort in his left elbow. Despite significant concerns about a potential serious injury, he was quickly able to return to play after being diagnosed with inflammation.