"We didn’t want to risk so we decided to stop" - Juan Soto sheds light on his early exit from Twins game following forearm soreness

Juan Soto left the New York Yankees' game early due to forearm discomfort on Thursday. Despite his early exit, the Bronx Bombers secured an 8-5 victory against the Minnesota Twins.

After the fifth inning, there was a one-hour rain delay after which Juan Soto was replaced by Alex Verdugo, who played left field, and Aaron Judge moved to right field, where Soto usually plays.

According to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Soto will have his arm checked with imaging on Friday. Boone also mentioned that Soto's forearm had been bothering him for about a week before Thursday's game.

“I don’t have the specific date but It’s been like a week and a half or two. I’ve just been grinding through,” Juan Soto said about when the discomfort started (0:09).

However, Soto revealed that the injury has not affected his hitting or throwing ability. It only bothers him when he is trying to move his arm.

“It’s kind of funny that this doesn’t hurt me whenever I throw or hit," Soto said. It’s more like soreness that I feel with any kind of move that make more harm but definitely doesn’t stop me for anything in baseball-wise, like in the field.” (0:32)

Before leaving the game, Juan Soto scored a run going 0 for 1 while drawing two walks. Further talking about his injury, Soto said:

“We all decided to not start getting warmed up again after an hour sitting down here [in the clubhouse]. We didn’t want to risk anything like that, so we just decided to stop.” (0:54)

“I actually just woke up one day, felt the tightness and discomfort in my forearm. We’ve been working on it, and we’ve been trying to get away with it and it hasn’t gone out.” (1:38)

Yankees manager Aaron Boone addresses Juan Soto’s early exit

Juan Soto has been one of the best hitters in baseball so far this season. The 25-year-old has a batting line of .318/.424/.603 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. Discussing about his injury, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said:

“It’s just been something that’s been bothering him for the last week or so, he’s been getting treatment on it. It hasn't really affected him with baseball stuff -- throwing or swinging or anything."

"Once we shut down and the rain delay, that soreness was there. We didn't feel like it was the right thing to go back out there."

The New York Yankees are leading the AL East with 45 wins and 19 losses. After sweeping the Minnesota Twins in a three-game series, the Yankees are gearing up to begin a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.