Yankees' Juan Soto not in starting lineup for second straight game

In announcing the “good news” on Friday regarding Juan Soto — that he had been diagnosed with inflammation in his left  forearm with no structural damage — Aaron Boone characterized the All-Star rightfielder as “day-to-day” in terms of returning to the lineup.

That day was not Saturday.

Soto, who came out of Thursday night’s victory over the Twins with discomfort in the forearm and who did not play in Friday night’s series opener against the Dodgers, was not in the starting lineup for  a second straight game.

“It’ll probably be at least a couple of days,” Boone said before Saturday night’s game.

Of a possible stint on the injured list, he said: “I guess it is a possibility, but I don’t expect that to be the case.”

Boone said he was not sure what kind of baseball activities Soto was slated to participate in Saturday, if any, but said a conversation with the three-time All-Star earlier in the afternoon suggested there had been progress with the forearm.

“I saw him 30, 45 minutes ago, he was in there [the trainer’s room] getting treatment, asked him how he’s doing, and he said, 'Good,' ” Boone said. “That’s about it.”

Soto, who played all 162 games last season with the Padres, takes pride in posting every day. The phrase “load management” is not one that applies to him. Boone said Soto, who played in each of the Yankees’ first 64 games before coming out of Thursday’s contest, understands the importance of not rushing back.

“I think he sees the big picture in all of this,” Boone said. “And as much as this environment, this series . . . I’m sure there’s part of this that’s killing him, not being in. But he also [wants] to get this inflammation out of there and we can roll.”

Speaking after Friday night’s 2-1 loss to the Dodgers, which snapped the Yankees’ season-high winning streak at eight games, Soto talked about his unusual — for him — vantage point from the dugout for an entire game.

"It's tough to see the game from the bench, and I don't like that,” he told reporters. “So I try my best to be out there. I try to help the team."

Soto has done that and more for the Yankees pretty much from the first day of the regular season (and from Day 1 of spring training, as he hit the scoreboard at Steinbrenner Field for a three-run homer in his Grapefruit League debut with the club).

Going into Saturday night, Soto was slashing .318/.424/.603 with 17 homers, 53 RBIs, 11 doubles, three triples and 46 walks. He ranked second in the majors in on-base percentage, OPS (1.027), runs and walks. He reached base safely in 56 of his 64 games and did so at least three times in 21 games, the most such games in the big leagues.

For that reason, even with an IL stint not completely off the table,  there was a palpable sigh of relief around the Yankees, and certainly in the clubhouse, with Friday’s diagnosis. Their memories  are fresh of touted outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez experiencing elbow discomfort eight games into a successful major-league debut last September and needing Tommy John surgery.

"There was a little unknown, but all you can do is say a prayer and hope for the best, and we got the best news we could," Aaron Judge said Friday. "He's a big part of this team. We've been saying it all year."

Hence, there's no need for Soto to push himself back into the lineup prematurely.

"I don't think I have to be grinding through it the whole year if we do the right thing and we do it the right way," he said. "Definitely, if we didn't know what was going on in my elbow, then maybe we'd definitely be grinding through the whole year. But now we know what it is, we can treat it and do the right thing to get it going. I think I'll be fine."

Said Boone: “I don’t think when he goes out there he’s putting himself at risk or anything; it’s not that kind of situation. But we want to get it [the inflammation] out of there, so we’ll continue to see how he’s improving, and when he’s ready, he’s ready.”