Sunday, September 15, 2013

Soriano's Thumb Leaves Lineup Status In Doubt

An already undermanned lineup took another hit just minutes before yesterday's game when Alfonso Soriano was scratched with a sprained thumb.  Apparently he hurt it making a defensive play on Thursday night and it didn't swell up on him until he woke up yesterday morning.  Soriano himself didn't seem all that concerned about it, and was hopeful he could play tonight if and when the swelling went down.  With no word yet on his status for tonight, all we can do for now is wait and hope.

If tonight's game isn't a must win, I don't know what is.  The Yankees have dropped 2 games to the Rays already this weekend and really can't afford to go down 5 in the loss column with 12 to play.  They need a W to salvage this series and keep their playoff hopes alive and they could use Soriano's bat back in the middle of the lineup to help make that happen.

The problem is where to play him.  If the thumb makes it too tough to play the field, Joe can't use Soriano at DH because of A-Rod's hamstring.  He's got too many walking wounded and not enough lineup spots to hide them.  You know, the usual.  Hopefully the swelling goes down enough that Soriano can play tonight.  If it doesn't, the Yankee lineup could be in trouble again.

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