Regular off days aren’t part of Yankees’ plan for Juan Soto

HOUSTON — It’s no secret that the Yankees like to rest their stars from time to time — or that that approach often irritates their fans.

It’s common for the Bronx faithful to complain when Aaron Judge is absent from a lineup, or when Aaron Boone sits a slugger the day after a successful game. For example, Giancarlo Stanton found himself taking a scheduled off day on Saturday after drilling his first home run of the season on Friday.

However, it doesn’t sound like the Yankees’ rest and relaxation plan will apply to Juan Soto, who played in a career-high 162 games for the Padres last season.

Soto, 25, has played in at least 150 games over the last four full major league seasons (excluding 2020 covid season). Based on what Boone said Saturday, it’s safe to assume Soto’s streak will continue so long as he’s healthy.

“I’ll pick probably a very occasional DH day with him. But he and I have talked about possible spots as the season unfolds,” the manager said, suggesting that Soto’s rest will come from early exits in games that get out of hand. “That’s kind of an off day in his eyes. So I’ll probably pick my spots for that.

“But no, no plans for Juan being down.”

It’s been a while since a Yankee played in 162 contests, so don’t be surprised if Soto falls a few games short of that figure.

Last year, Anthony Volpe and Gleyber Torres led the Yankees with 159 and 158 games played, respectively. In 2022, Judge set the pace with 157 games.

No Yankee has played a 162-game season since Boone took over as manager in 2018. In fact, no pinstriper has played in 162 games since Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui both accomplished the feat in 2005, when Joe Torre was still the Yankees’ manager.

Robinson Canó — Soto’s idol — did log at least 160 games five times during his Yankees career.

Boone, meanwhile, played in 162 games for the Reds in 2002.

“I don’t know. Usually, youth helps,” Boone said when asked what it takes to play a true full season. “Some guys are more equipped to handle that than others. Whether that’s body type, athleticism, whatever it may be, some people are cut out for it. Some people you need to pick your spots on certain things.”

BEET DOWN

After a three-pitch major league debut on Friday, Clayton Beeter was optioned to Triple-A on Saturday. The Yankees promoted Tanner Tully in his place.

While Beeter hardly broke a sweat in his first MLB game, the pitching prospect has developed as a starter and isn’t used to pitching on back-to-back days. With the Yankees’ bullpen thin, Boone didn’t want to end up in a spot where Beeter had to do that.

“We could probably throw him out there, but when you’re not built for that, it concerns me,” the skipper said.

Boone said that Beeter will stay built up in the minors and “hopefully be back here shorter rather than later,” though he wasn’t sure if the righty would join the rotation at Triple-A.

“We’re really excited about him,” Boone continued, “and I know he’s going to help us a lot this year.”

Tully, on the other hand, has not pitched in the majors since his debut season in 2022, when he appeared in three games for Cleveland.

The 29-year-old split the 2023 season between Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the Korean Baseball Organization, where he pitched for the NC Dinos. While Tully pitched poorly in the Yankees’ system, the lefty’s work in Korea yielded a 2.92 ERA over 11 starts.

Tully rejoined the Yankees on a minor league deal over the offseason, and he made the most of an invite to spring training, recording a 1.50 ERA over six innings.

“He threw the ball really well in spring,” Boone said. “Tanner’s a bit of a throwback. He changes speeds, not overpowering. But I thought his stuff was really crisp this spring. He was 91-92, crisp heater, command was really sharp. I feel like he’s in a pretty good spot right now.”

The Yankees designated Nick Ramirez for assignment to make space for Tully on their 40-man roster. The southpaw recorded a 2.66 ERA over 32 games as a low-leverage reliever for the Yankees last year.

RODÓN NOT SWEATING JERSEYS

As Carlos Rodón made his season debut on Friday, lots of people noticed him sweating through his jersey while pitching at the climate-controlled Minute Maid Park. It got to the point where he was told to get a new one mid-game.

rodons back is full of sweat imagine these fanatics jerseys in the middle of july its abt to be a wet tshirt contest full of big ole baseball tiddies pic.twitter.com/UrOJyrmjRY

— chris kreider respecter (@jonmoxIeys) March 30, 2024

“I wasn’t even thinking about it,” the lefty said. “I didn’t think I was sweating that much.”

There have been lots of problems with MLB’s new Fanatics jerseys since spring training began, and an inability to soak up sweat has been especially apparent with the Yankees’ road grays.

However, Rodón declined to complain about the craftsmanship of the jerseys.

“It is what it is,” he said.