Yankees slugger Juan Soto has been dealing with a sore left elbow, but is not expected to be placed on the injured list. Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Juan Soto has elbow inflammation and was not in the starting lineup for the first time this season when New York opened a high-profile series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said he doesn’t expect Soto will go on the injured list. Soto had imaging of his forearm and elbow that did not show any ligament damage. He will take medication and did not require an injection.
“In the grand scheme of things, we got some good news,” Boone said. “There might have been some anxious moments in there.”
Soto was removed from Thursday night’s 8-5 win over Minnesota after five innings because of left forearm discomfort. Soto said after the game the forearm of his throwing arm had been bothering him for about 1 1/2 or two weeks.
He felt sore during a 56-minute rain delay against the Twins and was examined by head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. About 20 minutes before the restart, the Yankees decided to send him for tests.
“Once he gets hot and gets it going, they work on him, the hitting and throwing in the game’s been fine. It’s getting to that point, then waking up the next morning kind of sore. Different movements, just kind of stiff,” Boone said. “The rain delay happens and it’s like kind of, ‘I got to go through that process again.’ Dr. Ahmad was here, so I was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we get this imaging on this?’ And I think a little bit of peace of mind there for him, like why is this still lingering?”
A 25-year-old three-time All-Star, Soto had started all 64 games in his first season with New York after being acquired from San Diego in December.
“Kind of just been grinding through it,” he said Thursday night. “It’s kind of funny. It doesn’t hurt when I throw, or hitting, it’s more like soreness that I feel any kind of move that I make with my arm. But it definitely doesn’t stop me from anything baseball-wise.”
Soto is batting .318 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI, helping the Yankees to a major league-leading 45-19 record.
“We all decided to not start getting work again after an hour, sitting down here, start getting hot again, warming it up,” Soto said. “We didn’t want to risk anything like that, so we just decided to stop.”
• Gerrit Cole is scheduled to make a second minor league injury rehabilitation start for Double-A Somerset on Sunday, remaining on track for a possible return to the New York rotation in mid-to-late June.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner threw 45 pitches over 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Patriots on Tuesday night, the 33-year-old right-hander’s first game action his only spring training start on March 1. He was diagnosed then with nerve inflammation and edema and told to rest.
A usual progression to is increase pitch count by 10-15 per outing.
Boone said this week Cole needed at least two more minor league starts. If Cole remains on normal four days’ rest, he could start again on May 14, making his earliest possible return the home series against Baltimore from May 18-20.
RANGERS: Shortstop Corey Seager wasn’t in the lineup Friday night and the two-time World Series MVP could miss multiple games because of tightness in his left hamstring.
Seager came out of the Rangers’ game Wednesday night after reaching for his hamstring on an RBI single. Manager Bruce Bochy said the shortstop did go on the field before the series opener against San Francisco.
“He did some light jogging, but not quite ready,” Bochy said. “It looks like it’s going to be a couple of days, three days.”
There are currently no plans to put Seager on the injured list.
“We think he’ll be ready before the 10 days are up,” Bochy said.
Seager extended his on-base streak to a career-high 28 games with his hit in the second inning of the Rangers’ 9-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. He said afterward he felt a twinge. Seager missed 31 games early last season because of a left hamstring strain.
Josh Smith, who has been the primary third baseman since Josh Jung fractured his right wrist less than a week into the season, was the starting shortstop against the Giants. He batted second, the usual spot for Seager, who has hit .271 with 13 home runs and 30 RBI in his 57 games.
ASTROS: Pitchers Cristian Javier and José Urquidy both underwent Tommy John surgery this week, the team disclosed.
The Astros also placed outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list with a bruised right shin. The team didn’t make an additional roster move before facing the Los Angeles Angels.
Houston General Manager Dana Brown already had announced that Javier and Urquidy both needed elbow surgery that would sideline them for a significant amount of time, but the team didn’t disclose whether it would be elbow ligament replacement surgery until Friday. Urquidy had surgery Wednesday, and Javier had surgery Thursday.
The Astros believe both pitchers will return during the 2025 season.
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