As Yankee fans panic and await the results of the imaging on Juan Soto’s forearm, Gio tried to calm the nerves of the fanbase by pointing to Bryce Harper, a fellow superstar outfielder who played through a torn UCL, starred in the playoffs en route to a Phillies pennant, and waited until the offseason to undergo Tommy John surgery.
“He played through it. He was the DH for the Phillies with that issue in his elbow,” Gio said of Harper. “Let’s say they come back with imaging and it says he has a partially or fully torn UCL. You’re just not gonna see him in the outfield anymore. He’s gonna be the DH the rest of the season, and he’ll be fine. He’ll be able to hit.
“He even said last night, when he’s throwing and hitting, he doesn’t feel the thing…he hasn’t been affected by it on the baseball field at all.”
Soto did say he feels no discomfort when hitting or throwing, and that he feels soreness during other activities. Still, even if he and Aaron Boone didn’t sound concerned, the potential of a torn UCL and the nightmare wave of injuries that have haunted the Yanks in recent seasons is enough to keep Yankee fans await on Thursday night. But Gio says that, even if it is worst-case scenario, Soto could still be in the lineup every night.
“It may be nothing,” Gio said. “But even if it’s the worst thing, he’ll still probably play.”