Yankees put Juan Soto back in starting lineup after injury scare

OAKLAND, Calif. — Juan Soto’s absence from the starting lineup lasted all of a day.

And even that wasn’t a full day off.

Soto, who banged up his left knee while making a sliding catch in Seattle on Thursday afternoon — and walked with a distinct limp afterward — did not start Friday night in Oakland. But the rightfielder contributed a pinch-hit RBI double to leftfield in the 10th inning of a 4-2 victory over the A’s and returned to the starting lineup Saturday night.

Despite saying Soto might not be quite 100% yet, how Soto left the ballpark late Friday night convinced manager Aaron Boone that he would be OK for Saturday. “Before I left, he felt like he was going to be good to go,” Boone said  before Saturday's game.

Soto, hitting .288 with 40 homers, 104 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 150 games entering Saturday, went left-knee-first into the concrete base of the wall in foul territory while making a terrific sliding catch Thursday afternoon, causing significant swelling. Soto underwent X-rays on Friday that came back negative.

“It’s always scary,” Soto said of getting imaging. “Definitely, we were hoping for the best, but you know anything can happen. So when I saw it came back negative, it was really a relief.”

When the Orioles lost to the Tigers in 10 innings Saturday afternoon, failing to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth despite putting runners on second and third with none out, the Yankees' magic number for clinching the AL East title dropped to four. 

Not-as-smooth Jazz

With the A’s starting lefthander JP Sears — among the prospects sent to Oakland in the ill-fated deal at the 2022 trade deadline that netted Frankie Montas (as well as reliever Lou Trivino) — the Yankees loaded their lineup with righthanded hitters and  switch hitters (other than Soto, of course) on Saturday night. The switch-hitting Oswaldo Cabrera started in place of Anthony Rizzo at first base and Jon Berti got the start for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third.

“I just felt like it was a good day to give him one [a day off],” Boone said of Chisholm, who is experiencing his first slump in a Yankees uniform since being acquired before the trade deadline. “Day game tomorrow [Sunday], a lefty going today, been wanting to get Berti in there. It’s been a grind for everyone and felt like today was a good day.”

Chisholm came into Saturday in an 8-for-51 (.157) skid and with a .494 OPS in his last 14 games.

Questions, questions

Among the fascinating storylines heading into the playoffs will be the Yankees' outfield alignment. More specifically, what the club chooses to do in leftfield (Aaron Judge and Soto, obviously, will be in center and right, respectively). Recently promoted top prospect Jasson Dominguez has the ability to electrify with his bat, but he already has had multiple misplays in left, a position he is  learning on the fly (Dominguez played predominantly in center during his development). Alex Verdugo, though without consistent success at the plate this season, is the superior defender.

“We’ll see,” Boone said of what will be a collaborative decision with the front office (as the vast majority of baseball decisions are in the organization). “It’s still declaring itself. Trying to keep everyone in the mix that are kind of fighting for different spots and different playing time so, again, feel like we have a lot of really good options.”