Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto will be out for a few days after fouling a ball off his right foot on Sunday. Jeff Roberson/Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto sat out the team’s exhibition home opener on Monday because he fouled a ball off his right foot a day earlier.
Manager Dave Martinez said the 2020 NL batting champion originally was scheduled to play Monday against the Houston Astros, before the mishap in batting practice Sunday.
“Just being cautious,” Martinez said. “Said he feels OK, but we’re just going to give him a day or two. See how he feels tomorrow.”
Martinez said the ball went underneath the shin guard the left-handed-hitting Soto wears on his front foot while batting.
“It got him pretty good,” Martinez said.
The 22-year-old Soto hit .351 last season, with a 1.185 OPS that also led the NL. He is shifting from left field to right field in 2021.
ORIOLES: Vi Ripken, matriarch of the famed Orioles family that includes Hall of Fame son Cal Ripken Jr. and once the victim of a bizarre kidnapping, has died. She was 82.
Family spokesman John Maroon said she died on Friday, a day before her birthday, in Aberdeen, where a youth stadium carries the Ripken name.
Violet and Cal Ripken Sr. married in 1957, and he spent four decades in the Baltimore system as a player, minor league coach and manager. He managed the Orioles in 1987 and early 1988, when sons Cal Jr. and Billy played infield for him.
“We want to thank everyone for the tremendous outpouring of affection towards our mom and our family during this difficult time,” the family said in a statement Monday.
“Mom was an incredible woman who touched so many people throughout her lifetime. The void that she leaves in our lives cannot be filled but what she gave us has shaped who we are today and our memories of her will last the rest of our lives,” it said.
In 2012, police said she was kidnapped at gunpoint at her home in Aberdeen and driven around blindfolded by her abductor. She was found bound and unharmed about 24 hours later in her car near her home. The case was never solved.
Orioles great Jim Palmer called Vi Ripken “my Mom away from home” while playing for Cal Sr. in 1964.
“Always so supportive to all of us. A huge part of the Oriole family,” the Hall of Fame pitcher posted on Twitter.
METS: New York will honor the late Tom Seaver by wearing a “41” patch on their home and away jerseys this season.
The Mets announced Monday they’ll pay tribute to the Hall of Fame pitcher by putting his number on the right sleeves of their uniforms.
Seaver died Aug. 31 at age 75.
The right-hander is the Mets career leader in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He earned three Cy Young Awards during his 12 seasons with New York and pitched the Mets to their first World Series championship in 1969.
Seaver also played for Cincinnati, the Chicago White Sox and Boston in a 20-year career. Overall, he had 311 wins, a 2.86 ERA and struck out 3,640.
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