Under The Knife 7/1/24
A Rough Start to July
No intro today, too much to get to! Go go go!
JUAN SOTO, OF NYY (bruised hand)
The Yankees are calling what Juan Soto is dealing with a bruised hand and while that’s not inaccurate, part of it is that they don’t know exactly what’s going on, despite some advanced tests. Soto injured himself on a slide, but then had pain and weakness on a swing. Bruises can easily impinge nerves and given the x-rays were negative, that’s the next easy conclusion. However, there’s also no evidence for this.
But that didn’t keep him out of Sunday’s game. He talked his way into the lineup despite some residual bruising and if 106 exit velocity tells us anything, the grip strength isn’t a problem. Painful? That’s for Soto to know and whether this extends any inflammation remains to be seen. He’ll have treatment until, well, he doesn’t need treatment and it appears they’re past the worst at least in terms of function.
The assumption is this is transient, as bruises normally are. If that’s the case, then this is barely going to be remembered in the story of this team. The more interesting part might be the trust that seems to be built up within this team and the medical staff. Remember, Aaron Judge sounded very worried about his foot at the start of the season, but he hasn’t had a single problem. If you add Soto in, that could build up for the rest of the team and the clubhouse, which has a value.
GERRIT COLE, SP NYY (inflamed elbow)
As good as seeing Soto back on the field was, seeing Gerrit Cole back striking people out had to make everyone with the Yankees feel even better. Everyone I spoke with told me that they simply had no idea what was wrong with Cole last time out and that if he was bad again, they weren’t sure what to do. It looks more like it was simply an off day and there was nothing worrisome, even though it was another short outing, but at 90 pitches, it’s hard to say he should or could have gone much longer.
That’s not to say that all worries are suddenly gone. If Cole is inconsistent, it’s a real problem for the Yankees rotation. Cole isn’t just a good pitcher; he’s normally good every time out, one of the few remaining old-style aces despite straddling two stylistic eras of pitching. That consistency is one of the values, and perhaps the rarest, along with his health, that goes above and beyond merely good pitchers. The Yankees couldn’t handle a .500 ace.
The guess from inside is that what we saw was a blip before, and we’ll see the normal Cole for the rest of the season, as we did this weekend. Bad starts happen, for many reasons, and if Cole self-corrected, everyone will be happy but for at least the next couple starts, everyone will be watching closely, just in case it wasn’t and there’s something there to be fixed.
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