Life in the Bronx would be a scary thought minus Juan Soto
New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto flies out against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Subtract Juan Soto, and it’s 2023 all over again for the Yankees.
Nobody wants a return to those dark days. But that’s the nightmare scenario Aaron Boone & Co. were forced to contemplate late Thursday night, undoubtedly a sleepless one once Soto was scheduled for imaging tests Friday to better assess what the team vaguely described as “left forearm discomfort.”
Soto was removed from the Yankees’ 8-5 victory over the Twins after a 56-minute rain delay interrupted the sixth inning. It was an ominous sign when the players returned to their positions for the re-start and Soto was nowhere to be found, replaced in rightfield by Aaron Judge.
Roughly 20 minutes later, the Yankees provided the murky three-word diagnosis, and Soto’s status for this weekend’s hotly-anticipated Bronx showdown with the Dodgers is very much uncertain. As it turns out, Soto later said he had been playing through the forearm pain for more than a week -- he was 0-for-1 with a pair of walks Thursday. But the extended cooling-off period from the weather delay convinced both him and the medical staff to shut it down for the night.
What comes next is far more worrisome, and neither Soto nor Boone did a very good job disguising their concern afterward. Can’t say we blame them. Soto has been a perfect fit during this dream season, a co-MVP with Judge as well being a hugely popular fan favorite, and it’s not an exaggeration to suggest that losing him for any extended period could bring it all crumbling down. Soto and Boone looked genuinely scared about what Friday's tests could reveal.
“I don’t know what it’s going to show,” Soto said.
Soto fighting through the discomfort for as long as he did was hardly surprising. He’s among the sport’s most durable players, appearing in all 162 games last season for the Padres and every one of the Yankees’ 64 games this year. That’s why the sirens went off following Thursday night’s rain delay. It was unthinkable not to see him out there. And now it’s unimaginable to see the Yankees, whose 45 wins lead the majors, continuing to wreck the competition without him.
“I think everyone’s a little concerned,” Marcus Stroman said. “Hopefully he’s all right. Just going to put all the good energy out in the world. I think he’ll be back.”
As of late Thursday, no one could say that for sure. And as long as Soto’s health remains unclear, so too does the Yankees’ ability to stay atop the American League. Soto carried them during Judge’s ice-cold April, and now that the captain is back doing serious damage again, the two have formed the wrecking-ball tandem everyone had envisioned.
The Dodgers’ own dynamic duo of Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani -- coming to the Bronx this weekend -- had outpaced them at the start, but over the past month, it’s been no contest. Entering Thursday, Judge had been unstoppable, hitting .398 with 14 homers, 34 RBIs and a 1.510 OPS over his last 27 games. Soto was merely supernatural, batting .324 with nine homers, 25 RBIs and a 1.089 OPS.
With those two powering a dangerous top-to-bottom lineup, it’s easy to see why the Yankees were ranked first overall in OPS (.837), homers (49) and runs scored (147) since May 5. The AL East-leading Yankees also have won 12 of their last 15 games, coming off a 7-2 West Coast trip. With Judge protecting Soto, the combo was a steamroller. Split them up, however, and this vaunted Yankees’ offense becomes far less intimidating, as we witnessed during stretches last season.
“Obviously you take a player the caliber of Juan out of the game, there’s always concern about that,” Boone said. “Also hoping that we’re just being cautious here, on a long night with a delay.”
To put it in perspective, Boone has never looked more deflated after a victory, which should give you an idea of where his mind was at during the postgame media briefing. Everything else that happened -- Trent Grisham’s homer, Gleyber Torres’ two-run double, Clay Holmes’ 18th save -- was inconsequential. What is there to say until the Yankees know what’s wrong with Soto?
Boone wouldn’t make any commitment one way or another on Soto’s status for the upcoming series with the Dodgers, but it’s rare that a player goes through a battery of tests and isn’t given a few days rest afterward.
The Yankees already had shrugged off the absence of Gerrit Cole in cruising to the most wins in the majors, but a serious injury to Soto would obliterate those two months of good vibes and instead conjure up flashbacks of last season’s offensive futility. Not to mention silence any talk about his pending free agency, and whether or not Hal Steinbrenner intends to pony up the $600 million or so to keep him in pinstripes beyond this year.
Losing Cole didn’t irreparably damage the Yankees’ title hopes. But what Soto does, as an everyday on-base machine that impacts the lineup top-to-bottom, can’t be replaced. There’s a reason he’s called a “generational talent.” So the Yankees will have their fingers crossed waiting for Friday’s test results, the Dodgers series overshadowed by the fate of their championship aspirations. Never has a Friday in early June felt so important to a team’s October future.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.