San Diego Padres star Juan Soto gave fans quite the scare on Wednesday after he was hit by a 91 MPH fast ball on the shoulder in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fortunately, the issue doesn't seem severe.
According to Padres manager Bob Melvin, Soto sustained a bruised right shoulder because of the hit. However, the San Diego tactician doesn't expect him to sit out when they play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
Juan Soto has a bruised right shoulder, Bob Melvin says, adding that Soto is probably going to be able to play Friday against the Dodgers.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) September 8, 2022
Of course it initially didn't look that way after Tommy Henry hit Juan Soto with the baseball. The new Padres star, who arrived in San Diego during the trade deadline, fell to the ground and grimaced as he tried to get over the pain.
Soto was able to walk and stretch his shoulders after, eventually giving fans a sigh of relief when he returned. Nonetheless, the celebration didn't last long when he was obviously not feeling good and had to be taken out in the fifth inning–being replaced by Trent Grisham.
Here's a look at the incident:
Juan Soto exited the game on the 5th after being hit by a 91 MPH fast ball on the shoulder in the 3rd 😬pic.twitter.com/oHofN013zu
— ClutchPoints MLB (@ClutchpointsMLB) September 8, 2022
The Padres are certainly lucky that Juan Soto avoided a more serious injury. While the team will be cautious about his condition, at least it doesn't look like he will have to sit out any game.
While Soto has yet to really explode ever since his move with the Padres, he remains a vital component of their offense. Any injury that sidelines him will definitely be a brutal blow, especially at this point when they are building momentum for a potentially big playoff run.
Here's to hoping that everything is truly fine for Soto.
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