Yankees scratch Juan Soto from Friday night game in Oakland

Juan Soto gave everyone in Yankees Universe a fright on Thursday afternoon in Seattle, when he made a sensational sliding catch on a ball hit by Jorge Polanco. The superstar's knee smashed into the right-field wall in foul territory and he was down for a few minutes while the Yankees attended to him. Soto was ultimately deemed decent enough to remain in the game.

When Soto's name appeared in the Yankees' original lineup for their Friday night game at Oakland Coliseum, it seemed like the possible end of the scare. But just a few minutes ago, manager Aaron Boone announced that he was a scratch due to "soreness and swelling" per the tweet from MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch, seen below the clip of his collision.

It's unsettling but also unsurprising that Soto's knee is still bothering him, even after the Yankees had the AL MVP candidate in the original starting nine. But if this is the proactive move for the Yankees to make it as likely as they can that he's OK for October baseball, then that's all that the team can do right now.