Yankees News: Juan Soto future, DJ LeMahieu injury, Tigers series sweep

Sunday's game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers was called in the eighth inning as rain disrupted the finale. Luckily, Juan Soto's three-run double in the seventh that put NY up 5-2 came at the perfect time. No need for more late-inning drama.

Here's a quick recap of what happened. The offense was bad once again, striking out 13 times (in just seven innings!) and logging just three walks. Their nine hits were solid, but everything was silent from innings 3-6. Aaron Judge homered in the first and Oswaldo Cabrera notched an RBI double in the second. The Yankees didn't threaten whatsoever again until the seventh, but not before the bullpen/defense blew the 2-0 lead in the top half.

We'll give them a pass for now because Tarik Skubal is good and it was raining, but this could've turned out very differently.

Thank goodness for Soto, who continues to rise to the occasion, hitting .440/.500/.880 with runners in scoring position across 25 at-bats this year, by far the best on the team. He's only struck out twice in those scenarios, too.

That obviously has Yankees fans dying to know if he'll stay beyond 2024, but it appears the jury's still out.

Yankees News: Juan Soto future, DJ LeMahieu injury, Tigers series sweep

Jon Heyman of the New York Post said Soto is loving in time in New York, but the star slugger isn't close to a decision on his future status. Here's what he said after Sunday's win:

“I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been a great experience. It’s a great group of guys. We all feel comfortable playing for each other. It’s feeling great so far.”

“I mean, right now I’m still learning the team. You cannot tell from one month into the season. You’ve got to see how it’s going to be all the way until the season ends.” 

That's why we need the offense to wake up on a more consistent basis, because the uninspiring dry spells as Soto continues to save the team from disaster could end up being an unredeeming quality when he's weighing his options in free agency.

Getting healthy would be nice, too. One Yankee eternally on the mend is DJ LeMahieu, who attempted to return from his foot injury a few weeks ago, left his rehab assignment after just one inning back on April 24 as he seemingly re-aggravated the injury. The Yankees have largely been close to the vest with their LeMahieu updates and, as expected, he's not even close to making his way back.

LeMahieu has resumed hitting, but manager Aaron Boone said that he "may not be that close to being ready for rehab games." It seems like LeMahieu was rushed back the first time around, and now the Yankees will learn the hard way for the 1,000th time when it comes to injuries.

Their utility infielder will need to take it slow given the nature of his foot injury, but he simply cannot be factored into the Yankees' plans given how little he's offered since the start of the 2021 season. We don't know when we'll see LeMahieu next, and it's not wise to envision what the team might look like with him in the lineup after how grim the turn of events have been.