New York Yankees star Juan Soto was withdrawn from their 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins with left forearm discomfort.
After a rain delay that lasted nearly an hour Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, Soto was removed from the game in the top of the sixth inning when play resumed. Aaron Judge shifted into the outfield to take Soto’s spot the rest of the way in right field, and Alex Verdugo came off the bench to play left field.
While it’s unclear how serious Soto’s injury is — he will undergo further testing Friday — manager Aaron Boone said after the game that he had been experiencing discomfort in his forearm for the past week. Nothing specific happened Thursday night to cause this.
Aaron Boone says Juan Soto’s forearm issues have been bothering him this past week.
He’ll undergo imaging tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/IWPkhfnkQY
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 7, 2024
“Once we stopped and the rain postponed, that pain was there,” Boone said. “So it just didn’t feel like it was the right thing to go back there… It was just something that was bothering him a little bit.”
Soto was 0-for-1 with two walks when he left the game Thursday night. The 25-year-old, whom the Yankees acquired in a major deal from the San Diego Padres last offseason, has started every game for the Yankees this year. He is batting .318 and has 53 RBI and 17 home runs.
It’s unclear how long Soto will be gone, if at all. Jasson Domínguez, the Yankees’ top outfield prospect, was also pulled from their AAA game before the eighth inning on Thursday night. That, the Yankees confirmed, was planned. The seven innings he played on defense were the most he has played thus far in his rehabilitation period. It is unclear how long Domínguez will remain with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Despite the loss of Soto, the Yankees held on and claimed the three-run victory over the Twins. It marked the Yankees’ eighth straight win, gave them a 6-0 record against the Twins this season and pushed them to 45-19 on the year.
