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OAKLAND, Calif. — Among his many talents, Juan Soto has no off button.
And apparently a sturdy kneecap.
A day after sliding into the right-field wall in foul territory at T-Mobile Park to make an outstanding catch – with his left knee taking the brunt of the collision, slamming into the concrete, unpadded base of the wall – Soto was right back in the Yankees lineup on Friday as they began a series against the A’s at the Coliseum.
The Yankees on Thursday believed — and hoped — they had avoided anything serious with Soto, who received about an hour’s-worth of treatment on his knee before speaking with reporters and was set to undergo X-rays to make sure he was OK.
In hindsight, the Yankees gladly would have taken the ball dropping for a foul — trailing the Mariners 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh — rather than Soto putting his body at risk, especially at this point in the season.
But that is easier said than done for Soto, who also has plenty at stake less than two months away from hitting free agency.
“I feel like it’s just adrenaline of the game,” Soto said Thursday. “We’re trying to keep the game right there on line and go out there and try our best. You mentioned free agency, this and that – when I go in those lines, I forget about everything. I literally just focus on the game. We’re trying to win the game to help the team to do the best.”
It felt all-too-similar to Aaron Judge’s catch at Dodger Stadium last June, which came at a cost as he busted his toe on the unpadded base of the wall.
But unlike Judge, Soto returned to the lineup the very next day, allaying some fears that the Yankees had suffered a costly injury just two weeks away from the postseason.
Soto had admitted he was “really worried” about his knee when the play happened, but the pain slowly started to go down over the final two innings of the game.
Still, there was some concern as the star right fielder said he felt it running and when he tried to swing (his spot in the order did not come up again for an at-bat).
Manager Aaron Boone’s biggest fear was that Soto had twisted his knee, but said the way he slid may have saved him.
Losing Soto for any amount of time would have been brutal for the Yankees as they try to pin down the AL East and go into October on a high note and healthy.
Soto entered Friday as the third-most valuable player in the American League (by FanGraphs’ WAR), batting .286 with a .993 OPS and a career-high 40 home runs.
This is not the first time this season the Yankees have been holding their breath on Soto’s physical status, though he has remained very durable overall.
There was the left forearm tightness that he had in early June, which surfaced when he was pulled after a rain delay against the Twins and then missed the entire three-game series against the Dodgers.
The Yankees were sweating out his MRI exam that time, but it showed no structural damage and just inflammation, and Soto returned after three games off.
Later in June during a series in Toronto, Soto was a late scratch after slamming his right hand on the ground sliding into home plate the night before.
X-rays were negative and again the result was just inflammation, though he was a late addition to the lineup the following day. In the days and weeks that followed, Soto still had to deal with some hand pain – especially when he swung and missed at a pitch – but it eventually dissipated.
And then there was the game earlier this month when he fouled a ball off his right foot and went down in pain, only to stay in the game and crush a go-ahead home run in the same at-bat.
The result of all the scares was Soto still starting in 149 of the Yankees’ 153 games entering Friday, which was the third-highest on the team behind Judge (151) and Anthony Volpe (150).
