BOSTON — Juan Soto may not be fully out of the woods just yet, but he and his forearm are in a better spot now than a week ago.
After sitting out last weekend’s series against the Dodgers with left forearm inflammation, Soto played his sixth straight game Saturday night in the Yankees’ 8-4 loss to the Red Sox.
Five of those games have come in the field, and Soto is pleased with how his arm has responded.
“It’s been pretty good,” Soto said. “I’ve been making a couple throws, like today I made a couple throws and it was pretty good. It’s been reacting really well. Like in the morning when I wake up, it’s really loosened up. We don’t have to do too much work on it. We’re still working, but little by little, we’re getting to 100 percent.”
Soto, playing left field at Fenway Park with Alex Verdugo manning his old stomping grounds in the more spacious right field, had a rough-looking throw to second base in the first inning Saturday.
But before the inning was over, he unleashed a throw home that had much more power behind it.
Earlier this week, manager Aaron Boone had floated the idea of Giancarlo Stanton potentially playing a game in left field at Fenway to give Soto a DH day.
But by Saturday afternoon, it sounded less likely, a positive sign of how Soto has been feeling physically.
At the plate, meanwhile, Soto has continued to look like himself.
He homered and drew two walks Saturday, reaching base multiple times for a career-high 11th straight game.
Tommy Kahnle has returned to the Yankees bullpen, but his velocity has not.
After missing almost the first two months of the season because of a shoulder issue, Kahnle’s fastball velocity has been slow to return in full, averaging 93.7 mph after it averaged 95.3 mph last season.
Kahnle’s command was also missing on Friday night, when he walked a pair while only recording two outs in the sixth inning of an 8-1 win over the Red Sox.
“I think we’ve seen more velocity at times early on,” Boone said. “The last couple haven’t been as much and certainly the consistency of that velocity. It’s something we’re continuing to work through. Hopefully it improves a little bit.
“But he can still certainly pitch at this [velocity]. For him, it’s about his last few, just being a little better at strike throwing, a little better at commanding.
If he does that, regardless of whether he gets a big bump in velocity or not, he should still be able to go out there and be really successful.”
Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-2 Saturday but drew a pair of walks, continuing to take some small steps toward looking more like himself.
He had collected a pair of hits and a walk in Friday’s series opener, his first multi-hit game of the month.
“He’s moving the needle,” Boone said. “It’s definitely something to build on, but a nice few days for him.”
Dan Hurley and the UConn men’s basketball team were honored before the game, with Alex Karaban throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
