Soto (left forearm) out of lineup; MRI shows inflammation

NEW YORK – The Yankees have received what manager Aaron Boone described as “good news” regarding Juan Soto, as an MRI of the outfielder’s ailing left forearm taken on Friday afternoon revealed inflammation but no structural damage.

Soto also had imaging performed on his left elbow, the results of which were clean, according to Boone. Though Soto was not in Friday’s starting lineup against the Dodgers, Boone said he expects Soto to avoid the injured list.

“He’s possibly available in a situation tonight or this weekend,” Boone said Friday. “We’ll just see how it goes, see how he responds.”

With Soto out of the lineup, left fielder Alex Verdugo assumed the No. 2 spot in the batting order, with Aaron Judge moving from center field to right field. Trent Grisham started in center field.

Soto exited Thursday’s 8-5 victory over the Twins following a 56-minute rain delay, during which he was examined by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.

Speaking on Thursday, Soto said that he has been dealing with soreness in his left forearm for approximately one to two weeks, and could not point to a specific event that caused the issue.

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

Boone said that Soto did not have any injections on Friday, and that anti-inflammatories have been prescribed.

“Once he gets hot and going and they work on him, the hitting and throwing in the games have been fine,” Boone said. “It’s been getting to that point, then waking up the next morning kind of sore, [with] different movements [feeling] kind of stiff.

“The rain delay happens [on Thursday] and it’s kind of like, ‘I’ve got to go through that process again.’ Dr. Ahmad was here and it’s like, ‘Hey, why don’t we get imaging on this?’”

Soto is hitting an American League-leading .318 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 64 games. His .424 on-base percentage is the best in the Majors.

“He’s a pretty cool customer, as you’ve seen,” Boone said. “For him, in his mind, he wanted to know what was going on there, because that soreness was just lingering with him each and every day. I don’t want to speak for him, but I’m sure it gave him some peace of mind.”