Juan Soto removed from Yankees lineup as injury scare takes shock turn

OAKLAND, Calif. — Among his many talents, Juan Soto has no off button.

But that will cost him at least one game, though the Yankees were holding their breath that it was just one game.

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 unpadded concrete base of the wall — Soto was a late scratch from the Yankees lineup Friday as they began a series against the A’s at the Coliseum.

X-rays were negative on Soto’s knee, but he still had some swelling and soreness Friday that, following pregame treatment and exercises, led the Yankees to play it cautiously and keep him on the bench at least to start the night.

“Just feel like it’s the best thing to hold him out tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said.

With just over a week left in the regular season, as they try to pin down the AL East and head into October on a high note, the Yankees can ill afford to be without Soto for long.

“Not overly [concerned about it long-term],” Boone said. “Even in talking to [director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuk], it’s not something he’s concerned with long-term here. Just a day-to-day thing. Hopefully he’s even available tonight in some capacity.”

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.”

Boone also said that Soto may have saved himself from something worse by sliding into the wall.

“More than you know, guys do a good job of knowing how to protect themselves and play smart in certain situations,” Boone said. “I actually think him getting down the way he did protected him a little bit. Obviously he bruised it and he’s out today, but the way he did it actually avoided a bad situation.”

It was 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.

Judge insisted that night he was fine, but then was out of the lineup the next day and subsequent tests revealed a torn ligament in his toe.

Soto had admitted Thursday 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).

Losing Soto for more than just a few days would be devastating for the Yankees, who clinched a playoff berth Wednesday.

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 on pins and needles about Soto’s physical status, though he has remained durable overall.

There was the left forearm inflammation that he had in early June, which forced him to miss three games against the Dodgers.

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).