Juan Soto's mysterious exit after rain delay has Yankees fans worried: What we know

The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins had to pause Thursday night's game for an hour because of rain. When the tarp came back off, Juan Soto was nowhere to be found.

Aaron Boone replaced Soto in the lineup with Alex Verdugo, who stepped into left field while Aaron Judge moved over to right field.

While there was no immediate explanation for Soto's exit, the Yankees announced that he is dealing with "left forearm discomfort."

Juan Soto injury update: Left forearm discomfort explains exit

Many fans hoped that Boone was just giving his star outfielder some rest. The unfortunate update revealed that wasn't the case.

Rest wouldn't have made sense anyway. New York led by just three runs with four innings to play. It wasn't an ideal moment to give such a key player some time off. Plus, Verdugo's own day off had to be interrupted to replace Soto.

The question now is how severe Soto's "discomfort" is. That kind of wording could refer to something extremely minor that doesn't cost him any more gametime. It could quickly resolve itself. Or it could be masking something more serious. We won't find out more until the Yankees give another update, likely following the game.

Soto missing any sort of time would be a huge disappointment for the Yankees and, frankly, the baseball world. Friday begins a monster series between New York and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The clash of World Series hopefuls should be captivating. It would be a shame if NY came it with a weakened lineup.

Soto has been quite durable in his career so far. He played 162 games last year and hadn't missed an outing for the Yankees yet this year. The hope is that track record remains strong but the extent of this injury will have to decide that.

UPDATE: Jasson Dominguez was pulled from the Triple-A Scranton game shortly after Soto's injury was revealed. Those facts may not be related but it's not a good sign.