Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto was scratched from Friday’s doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves with elbow soreness. Soto had an MRI that came back clean, but he will sit out a “couple of days” manager Dave Martinez said per Byron Kerr of MASN Sports.
The last thing the last-place Nationals need is to have Soto out of the lineup. Soto has been phenomenal at the plate alongside Trea Turner.
Soto is second on the team with a .354 batting average — only trailing Turner — while leading the team with a 1.211 OPS, 11 home runs, 26 RBIs and 17 walks.
Following their split the Nationals are 13-24 this season. They’re 9.5 games back of the first-place Braves in the NL East and 7.5 back of the Philadelphia Phillies for second. With 27 games remaining on the schedule, the Nationals are running out of time to get into the playoff conversation. Not having Soto will make their task more challenging.
