Juan Soto returns to Yankees lineup after forearm injury

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After an anxious weekend, the Yankees could somewhat exhale regarding Juan Soto.

After missing 3 ¹/₂ games with left forearm inflammation, the superstar returned to the lineup Monday and felt “pretty good,” he said, after a 4-2 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

But Soto did not return to the field and did not say this forearm scare is over.

For the first time this season, he served as the designated hitter, going 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk, and said he will have to see how he wakes up before determining when he can play the field.

Manager Aaron Boone said Soto, whose injury is to his throwing arm, “hopefully” would play the field during the series, but Boone wanted Soto’s return to be incremental.

“Just a way of easing him in,” said Boone, who gave Jahmai Jones a rare start in right field.

Soto had not played since leaving Thursday’s win over the Twins early with a forearm issue that he later revealed had been bothering him for a week or two.

After his first game back, he acknowledged that he didn’t know if he would have to manage the issue for a while.

“I’ve been doing a lot of treatments. I’ve been seeing a lot of improvement,” Soto said before adding, “definitely it’s not going to go away that quick.”

Tests in the aftermath of the injury found only inflammation, and the Yankees hoped a few days off would solve the problem.

Soto began swinging again Sunday and was back to hitting second Monday, when Aaron Judge received his first off day of the season.

Soto hit in the cages before the game, felt good and gave Boone the green light. He said he didn’t feel any soreness from the forearm during the game.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” Soto said.