“Playing It Safe”: Aaron Boone Takes a Hopeful Stance as Juan Soto’s Arm Issue Risks Derailing the Yankees Juggernaut

One of the biggest selling points of Juan Soto has been his durability. The New York Yankees superstar has rarely played fewer than 150 games in a season. Undoubtedly that durability (even after multiple injuries) was one of the main reasons why his free agency is being looked at with such interest. However, yesterday in a rain-delayed game against the Minnesota Twins, something drastic happened. Juan Soto was pulled out due to left arm discomfort.

The moment fans heard about this news, they immediately got painful flashbacks of Jasson Dominguez. The Yankees’ electrifying Martian too went out with a slight discomfort only to realize that his UCL needed a Tommy John surgery. While one hopes that isn’t the case when it comes to Soto, the severity of his injury will be known only after he undergoes an exam. However, until then the New York Yankees skipper tried to remain hopeful.

During his postgame interview, Aaron Boone underplayed Soto’s injury. Boone noted that the Yankees were “playing it safe” when it comes to Soto. The skipper revealed that this arm discomfort had been a recurring issue that they finally dealt with. Soto too shared something similar when he said, “It’s been like a week-and-a-half or two. I’ve just been grinding through it.”

However, this also makes things rather difficult for the Bronx Bombers. They had been depending a lot on Soto’s offensive production. In case of a serious injury, that could probably derail some of the momentum that the team has built. Aaron Boone, too, signaled at something similar. “You take a player the caliber of Juan out of the game, there’s always concern about that. But, also, we’re hoping that we’re just being cautious here on a long night with a delay,” said the skipper. (Per New York Post)

Interestingly, their Jasson Dominguez too was pulled from his game with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. However, that was a planned move to ease up his ramping up after the Tommy John surgery.

New York Yankees hope for Juan Soto’s quick return

Juan Soto’s presence hasn’t been anything less than miraculous for the New York Yankees. In his 64 games, the superstar is slashing an outstanding .318/.422/.605 with a tremendous 1.027 OPS. The key difference between him and Aaron Judge is that, unlike Judge, Soto has been performing well since day one. As a result, he’s been the lynchpin connecting the entire Yankees hitting staff.

That’s why the Bronx Bombers look worried. As Marcus Stroman put it, “I think everyone’s a little bit concerned. Hopefully, he’s all right. Just going to put the good energy out in the world. I think he’ll be back.” That’s something that the entire Pinstripes clubhouse hopes for. With the team currently on top of the league, they wouldn’t want to lose this momentum due to an unwanted injury to their young superstar.