Soto out of lineup again, MRI on knee is negative

Juan Soto is out of the Nationals lineup for the second straight day with a right knee contusion that required an MRI this morning to be sure the injury wasn't more serious.

Soto, who hurt himself while taking a secondary lead off second base in the ninth inning of Wednesday's game at Nationals Park, has been taking part in some pregame drills in Atlanta prior to each of the team's last two games. But manager Davey Martinez said the club wasn't ready to take a chance putting him back in the lineup yet.

"We'll just keep an eye on it," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "He's moving around a little better today. I told him, 'If you're available to pinch-hit, let me know.'"

Martinez said Friday night Soto could've pinch-hit in the ninth inning if the right situation arose, though it never did during the Nationals' 8-4 loss to the Braves.

Why have the MRI done today?

"We just wanted to make sure," Martinez said. "We thought it was a little contusion, and that's exactly what it is. He's going to be day-to-day."

That MRI indeed returned a negative result, so the Nationals are confident Soto didn't suffer any kind of serious injury. But they're also not going to risk their 22-year-old star suffering anything worse by putting him back in the lineup before he's clearly ready to play in the field as well as hit and run.

With Soto out, the Nats are left with an outfield tonight that has only one starter under the age of 30: Andrew Stevenson, who is in center field and leading off. Yadiel Hernandez, 33, is in left field and batting in Soto's usual No. 3 spot in the lineup. Gerardo Parra, 34, is batting fifth and assuming Soto's usual position in right field.

Why start both of those veterans over 24-year-old Victor Robles, whom the Nationals continue to insist is a big part of their future? Martinez said he intended all along to sit Robles tonight, not liking the matchup against Braves right-hander Charlie Morton. That leaves Hernandez and Parra as the only other healthy outfielders on the current roster.

"I was going to give Victor a day for Charlie, get Stevenson in there and let him play some center field," the manager said. "If Soto was available to play, he'd play today in right field. And Yadi's swinging the bat. Look, regardless of what anybody thinks of what we're going through, I don't like losing. I still want to compete and win games. We're still going to match up accordingly and try to go 1-0 today."