NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani’s dog might be named Decoy, but Juan Soto was the real decoy Friday night.
The supersonic slugger was kept out of the lineup after discomfort in his left forearm forced him out of Thursday night’s game against Minnesota. For 16 hours, YankeeLand sweated bullets and gnawed fingernails, but the worst-case scenario did not come to be. Imaging revealed that Soto’s pain was simply inflammation and not structural damage. The team, its fans and Soto breathed a collective sigh of relief. Still, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone determined a day off wouldn’t be the worst idea.