SOTO TO GET MRI ON AILING FINGER
Yes, Juan Soto grimaced noticeably after a swing before the All-Star break against the Angels. The discomfort in his right middle finger popped up again in Philadelphia.
But, truth be told, the finger had been an issue since before spring training. The MRI he’ll receive in the next day or two is to confirm that nothing new has developed since his initial MRI in January.
“Right now, (team doctors) just think it’s healing and then it goes bad because I keep playing,” Soto said Wednesday afternoon. “They say it’s going to heal on its own.”
Cognizant of what Soto is nursing, Padres manager Bob Melvin has been pleading with his star left fielder to take a day off. Soto finally relented after the Phillies series and the two circled Wednesday — before today’s off-day — as an ideal window to rest the finger.
It wasn’t the full day off that Melvin hoped for.
But Soto did not take any swings while walking on four pitches in the ninth inning, other than the swings he took to get ready before his pinch-hit appearance. Soto had hit his 20th home run of the season a day earlier.
“I’ve been playing with it since Day 1,” said Soto, who has started all but two games this season. “Bob just told me to give it a rest, giving it a day off. He’s been begging with that since months back. I told him, ‘No, I’m going to keep playing, keep playing.’ Past two weeks I told him all right, we’re going to find the perfect day to take the rest and let the finger breathe again.”
He added: “I’ve been dealing with it since January. It’s been up and down. But it feels good sometimes. Sometimes it feels bad. It depends. A couple swings feels uncomfortable. … Right now we’re just looking at it, trying to give it some rest. After playing 100 games, take it easy a little bit.”
Lugo … till the end?
Seth Lugo completed seven innings on Wednesday, scattering three hits — including two unfortunate home runs — in his longest start since throwing seven innings in his first start of the season.
Wednesday’s effort pushed him up to 82 innings on the season, the most he’s thrown in a season since throwing 1011⁄3 innings in 2018.
Asked how much more he has in him in this first year back in a rotation, the 33year-old right-hander smiled:
“Depends on if we get to the playoffs or not.”
As in, he’s not about to give up the ball anytime soon.
At least not willingly, which is where his monthlong break while dealing with a calf injury serves as a silver lining.
Lugo has a 3.12 ERA in seven starts (401⁄3 IP) since returning from the injured list. He’s struck out 41 batters against five walks over that stretch, including eight punchouts and no walks in Wednesday’s tough-luck loss.
“Great,” Melvin said after Lugo threw 54 of his 84 pitches for strikes. “Efficient. Didn’t walk anybody. Gave a (couple) solo home runs. In a lot of ways, it’s as good a game as he’s pitched all year.”
Not a mistake? Angel Perdomo Manny Machado’s
said the fastball to back, on the heels of Soto’s home run Tuesday, was a mistake.
Machado wasn’t buying the explanation.
Neither is Major League Baseball.
The Pirates’ 29-year-old left-hander was suspended three games for intentionally throwing at Machado in the seventh inning. Pirates manager Derek Shelton was suspended one game. Perdomo and Shelton began serving their suspensions Wednesday.
They were ejected after Machado was hit by the pitch, which led to Machado slowly strolling up the first base line and allowing Pirates first baseman Carlos
Santana to chat him up as he approached the bag.
Perdomo was not ejected until after umpires discussed what transpired. Shelton was ejected after coming out to defend Perdomo. Shelton’s contention was that no warnings were in place, but warnings were issued after the ejections and cooler heads ultimately prevailed.
“I guess people don’t respect people anymore,” Machado said Tuesday night. “That’s what has changed. You know, 300 (homers) in the show and 10 years plus. But it is what it is. Ain’t no worry. We got the win.”
Added Soto: “It’s not right. And then after he hit (Machado), he literally charged to the plate. That’s not right. You shouldn’t do that. … He’s putting his teammates in (danger). Because we’ve got pitchers who throw hard, too. …
“If you don’t want to give up homers, strike people out.”