Yankees ‘scrambled’ to add Juan Soto to lineup late in injury risk that instantly paid off

TORONTO — About 10-15 minutes before first pitch Sunday, Juan Soto walked into Aaron Boone’s office and asked if it was too late to get into the lineup.

The star right fielder had not been in the initial one the Yankees released as he spent the morning getting more treatment on his bruised right hand and then took swings in the cage — which had proved too difficult a day earlier.

But it went much smoother Sunday, and suddenly Soto found himself ready to play in the series finale against the Blue Jays.

“We kind of scrambled and switched it up and obviously he played a big part in getting us going there,” Boone said after the Yankees’ 8-1 win at Rogers Centre .

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Soto went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, roping a line-drive single in his first at-bat and scoring on Aaron Judge’s home run.

He said he felt good hitting, but catching the ball in right field was “a little bit difficult.”

Though Soto said he still had some swelling in his hand after Sunday’s game, he felt it was good enough to give it a shot.

“I think it was in a spot that I could help my team,” Soto said. “I was feeling good when I was warming up. I know I have a pretty good chance out there to try to win a ballgame today, so I went for it.”

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It remains to be seen whether Soto will still need more imaging on his hand back in New York on Monday.

Before Sunday’s game, he indicated he would likely get an MRI or CT scan, but after the game said it would be a discussion he would have with a team doctor.

The Yankees had delayed releasing a lineup for most of the morning while trying to see if Soto could play and initially they left him out.

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It would have made sense, especially with an off day on Monday, to play it safe and give Soto an extra day to rest.

“The biggest thing, and the thing I told him this morning when he got here — because I knew he was feeling better, and significantly better it seemed like — I just didn’t want him to compromise his swing or do anything,” Boone said. “By all accounts after he had hit, the hitting coaches, who [Saturday] were concerned, were like, ‘He looked great.’ Trainers signed off on it, so we were a go.”

Gleyber Torres, who has become close with Soto, said they were worried about his thumb on Saturday night.

By Sunday shortly before first pitch, those concerns had been quelled, at least for the day.

”I heard him hitting in the cage and it sounded pretty loud, so I figured that was a good sign,” Judge said. “Excited to have him back out there and he gets back to doing what he does in the first inning, which was nice.”

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