Reckless Juan Soto injury scare, Jake Cousins departure harsh Yankees' vibes

The New York Yankees may yet be the healthiest team rolling towards the playoffs, as many pundits seem to be saying in recent days. In order to do so, though, they're going to have to survive until October begins.

So far, they seem to have no intention of making that process easy.

In the seventh inning on Thursday afternoon, with two Mariners on and one man out, Jorge Polanco looped a foul ball into right field, with only a thin sliver of dirt between the wall and the playing field. Never fear! Juan Soto simply had to go all out for the falling baseball, sliding, skidding, and slamming his knee into the wall as he made the catch.

He writhed in pain, then told Aaron Boone he planned to stay in the game as the crowd chanted his name. Can someone please tell Soto that said crowd is going to love him, whether or not he goes all out in the series finale post-playoff clinch?

Yankees' Juan Soto, Jake Cousins injury scares cloud Thursday's game vs. Mariners

You've won over the fan base already, man. It happened in April. Enough is enough.

Though Soto refused to depart the game -- much like he did last week after fouling a ball off his leg, and much like he did in June when he slammed his hand on the ground sliding into home against Toronto -- all that means is he's a gamer. The June injury kept him hobbled a while. All we can do is hope against hope that this team can find a middle ground between aggressive and safe as they seek the AL East while keeping loftier goals in mind.

Oh, yeah, wait, and the team's precarious-but-emerging bullpen took a hit, too. While Luke Weaver, Tommy Kahnle and Ian Hamilton have ascended in recent weeks, Jake Cousins has regressed a bit, walking seven in his last 9.1 innings pitched.

The Yankees inserted him into Thursday's action to get his command back and, well ... he plunked the first batter he faced, whiffed the next, and was pulled six pitches into the outing, his velocity down across the board.

The Yankees announced later that he was removed with a tight pectoral muscle. Never mind that Cousins needed reps before October to find his release point again; that's out the window now. All the Yankees can hope, at this point, is that they can earn a bye and he can shake it out before Oct. 5.

Stay safe out there.