A Damaged Arm Lands Struggling Anthony Rizzo on the Injured Listing

Even earlier than he fractured his proper arm throughout Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the Pink Sox, Anthony Rizzo had already endured a tough 12 1/2 months. His 2023 season was wrecked by the aftereffects of a Might 28 collision with Fernando Tatis Jr., which manifested themselves as post-concussion signs that sapped his manufacturing earlier than he was shut down in early August; he didn’t play once more that season. He began slowly this yr, and whereas his bat perked up in late April, he fell right into a deep droop in the beginning of June and was benched throughout the Yankees’ recent series towards the Dodgers. He confirmed just a few constructive indicators upon returning to the lineup, however now he’s anticipated to overlook the subsequent eight weeks.

Rizzo’s harm occurred throughout the seventh inning of Sunday night time’s recreation at Fenway Park. After Alex Verdugo and Giancarlo Stanton each singled off pitcher Brennan Bernardino to begin the inning, Rizzo grounded to the proper aspect of the infield. First baseman Dominic Smith ranged over to discipline the ball and began to throw to second base earlier than realizing he had no shot at forcing Stanton out. He then threw to Bernardino — or reasonably, behind him. The pitcher dropped the ball as he bought to the bag, the place a sprinting Rizzo swerved to his proper to keep away from a full-on collision. He misplaced his steadiness and went down arduous, rolling over on his proper arm. He remained on the bottom in apparent ache whereas being tended to by the Yankees’ athletic trainers, then left the sphere and was changed by pinch-runner Oswaldo Cabrera.

Preliminary imaging with a fluoroscope at Fenway Park was unfavourable, however additional testing in New York on Monday revealed that Rizzo had fractured the radial neck of his proper arm — that’s, the part of the radius close to the elbow. Such accidents are extra widespread in youngsters than adults, and sometimes happen on a traumatic fall onto an outstretched hand, which, bingo. Such fractures are normally not displaced, and that may seem like the case with Rizzo, who gained’t want surgical procedure. Whereas preliminary studies positioned his absence in a four-to-six week window, on Tuesday the Yankees mentioned that Rizzo will want about eight weeks earlier than returning to video games, with the primary baseman saying he was instructed it’ll be “most likely 4, 5 weeks” of no baseball exercise.

Eight weeks would put the 34-year-old first baseman’s return in mid-August, a few weeks previous the July 30 commerce deadline. Rizzo’s flagging bat had already elevated the chance the Yankees would search to amass an alternate from outdoors the group, although the complete infield moreover shortstop (the place Anthony Volpe has performed properly) is a significant space of concern, and now the addition of one other first baseman could also be a necessity.

Extra on that state of affairs under, however first, a take a look at Rizzo. Right here’s what I wrote about his state of affairs final August:

[U]p till his collision with Tatis, which occurred throughout a pickoff play, he had hit .304/.376/.505, good for a 146 wRC+, second on the crew behind Decide. He left that recreation with what the Yankees referred to as a neck harm and handed the MLB-mandated concussion exams, however missed three video games earlier than returning. Since then, his season has gone down the tubes, as he’s hit .172/.271/.225 with one homer in 192 plate appearances, together with his batting common, slugging proportion, and 43 wRC+ all rating final within the majors among the many 168 certified hitters.

Rizzo rehabbed to the purpose the place a return was potential, however didn’t play once more because the Yankees pale from the playoff image; he completed at .244/.328/.378 (100 wRC+) with 0.9 WAR. As for this season, he began out properly sufficient in April, however his manufacturing plummeted in Might, then went into right into a free fall in June:

That’s a 5-for-48 exhibiting with 5 walks, a double, and a homer in June, together with a 1-for-34 skid from June 1–11. A better take a look at Rizzo’s Statcast numbers present that he wasn’t hitting the ball a lot tougher in April than in Might, and so his early slash line included some smoke and mirrors:

Rizzo’s general numbers, unhealthy as they’re, are fairly aligned together with his Statcast anticipated ones. His common exit velocity locations within the eleventh percentile amongst certified hitters, his barrel charge within the fifteenth, and his hard-hit charge within the seventeenth; his bat pace is down within the eighth percentile. It’s robust to seek out positives in that efficiency, which now features a career-low stroll charge and a career-high chase charge (34.5%). He’s under substitute degree, with -0.4 WAR.

With Rizzo in that 1-for-34 skid (which included only one stroll and three strikeouts), supervisor Aaron Boone sat him for the sequence finale towards the Dodgers on June 12, and the subsequent day as properly. “You play this recreation lengthy sufficient, you already know, the sport’ll deliver you to your knees at occasions,” Boone mentioned on the time, expressing his empathy for Rizzo.

In that media session, Boone hesitated to attract a connection between the top of Rizzo’s 2023 together with his struggles in ’24, saying, “I’d reasonably deal with what we’ve seen this yr.” He added, “I believe typically whenever you’re making little changes and so they don’t all the time take instantly, you go on the market and… perhaps you revert again to one thing completely different. And also you break down a few of the work. It’s robust, particularly whenever you’ve been a profitable participant, like Anthony has been all through his profession.”

After sitting for 2 days, Rizzo returned to the lineup. He collected 4 hits in a three-day span towards the Royals and Pink Sox from June 12–14 — as many as he had within the earlier two weeks — together with a homer on June 13, his first since Might 10. He went hitless in his closing two video games earlier than getting harm.

Possibly Rizzo was in a garden-variety droop, and perhaps the break day will assist him reset. However given how gradual each he and the Yankees had been to attach his struggles final summer time to the aforementioned collision, I’m a bit hesitant to grant anybody concerned — the tough-as-nails first baseman who leads all lively gamers in being hit by pitches (219), or the crew whose administration of accidents over the previous half-decade has raised some eyebrows — the advantage of the doubt.

Regardless, the Yankees already had a gap at first base, production-wise, and now they they’ve a deeper one. DJ LeMahieu, who’s been enjoying usually at third base and recognizing at first since coming off the injured record in late Might, will spend at the least a few of his time at first, probably towards lefties. The 35-year-old LeMahieu missed the primary two months of the season resulting from a nondisplaced fracture in his proper foot, suffered when he fouled a pitch off of it in a March 16 exhibition. He has but to get going offensively, hitting .176/.283/.176 (45 wRC+) in 61 PA. His Statcast numbers are a bit higher (.338 xSLG), however then how may they not be? LeMahieu completed with a mediocre .243/.327/.390 (101 wRC+) line with 15 homers in 562 PA final yr, although he did publish a 129 wRC+ after the All-Star break in comparison with a 77 earlier than, when he was nonetheless coping with the results of a proper huge toe harm. The Yankees may actually use a few of that second-half magic.

When LeMahieu performs first base, Cabrera will probably play third. The 25-year-old switch-hitting utilityman has struggled to duplicate the spark he equipped the crew in late 2022; this yr, he’s hitting .237/.275/.350 (79 wRC+) with 5 homers in 189 PA. Utilityman Jon Berti, who was supposed to offer one other different at third, is on the 60-day IL resulting from a high-grade left calf pressure he suffered in late Might, and isn’t eligible to return till late July.

The Yankees crammed Rizzo’s roster spot by calling up Ben Rice, a 25-year-old lefty-swinging catcher/first baseman who may get a protracted look earlier than the deadline. Drafted out of Dartmouth within the twelfth spherical in 2021, Rice misplaced all of that season and a lot of the one earlier than it to the pandemic, so previous to being drafted, he’d performed almost 3 times as many video games in summer time school leagues as within the Ivy League. After hitting a mixed .324/.434/.615 (171 wRC+) throughout three ranges final yr, Rice hit .261/.382/.511 (151 wRC+) with 12 homers in 49 video games at Double-A Somerset to begin this season, then .333/.440/.619 (172 wRC+) with three homers in 11 video games upon being promoted to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

Regardless of these gaudy 2023 stats, Rice positioned simply twenty ninth on the Yankees’ Top Prospects list in December, with a 35+ FV grade. A lot of that needed to do with skepticism concerning his protection behind the plate, which hasn’t improved. Utilizing the one-knee stance, Rice is nice at pitch blocking, however in 28 video games at catcher this yr, he’s allowed 54 stolen bases — almost two per recreation — whereas throwing out simply 10% of would-be base thieves, and the numbers had been equally unhealthy final yr. In up to date notes that he supplied me, Eric Longenhagen referred to as Rice, “nonetheless a properly under common general defender with points receiving and (particularly) throwing. [He] typically mishandles the trade and doesn’t even try a throw down.”

Offensively, Rice has common uncooked energy and doubtlessly a mean hit instrument, which is sufficient to make a catcher an attention-grabbing prospect, however doesn’t go very far for a primary baseman. In his prospect writeup, Longehagen praised Rice’s “huge time lefty bat pace,” and added, “The ferocity in his swing and the power and suppleness in his decrease half are all thrilling, and Rice may find yourself having a two or three yr peak within the mould of a Jared Walsh or Justin Bour, or maybe be deployed the best way Blake Sabol was in 2023.”

Nonetheless, whereas Rice “murders fastballs, typically on time to drag them with energy, [he is] allergic to spin, hitting .200 versus breakers this yr.” He’s weak to pitches within the lower-and-away nook of the strike zone, swinging over softer stuff in that space, and failing to trace the baseball by means of contact.

As for the protection at first base, at 6-foot-1, 215 kilos, Rice has the scale for the place, however he’s performed simply 55 video games there professionally, together with 22 this yr. His footwork remains to be tough, and through Gerrit Cole’s most up-to-date rehab begin, Rice whiffed on a throw.

The Yankees anticipate some rising pains, as infield coach Travis Chapman told the New York Day by day Information’ Gary Phillips:

“He’s good. He’s prepared to study. I’ll take that to begin. The truth is he must get snug on the market and get used to enjoying there part-time, daily, at any time when [Aaron Boone] places him within the lineup, and we’ll proceed to work on it. Hopefully we’ll see progress all through these first a number of weeks, and hopefully we see an superior man on the market making the opposite guys round him higher.”

Rizzo, a four-time Gold Glove winner at first base, pledged to assist Rice proceed to study the place and to interrupt down how opposing groups are pitching him. “Alternatives within the huge leagues are usually not straightforward to come back by, so hopefully he runs with it and does very well,” mentioned Rizzo.

Rice made his main league debut towards the Orioles on Tuesday night time, going 1-for-4 with a third-inning single off starter Albert Suárez:

That good second was overshadowed by Aaron Judge getting hit on the left hand with a 94-mph Suárez fastball earlier within the inning. Decide got here round to attain, then returned to heart discipline for the highest of the fourth, however was changed by pinch-hitter Trent Grisham within the backside of the body. He went to a neighborhood hospital for imaging, and said afterward that CT and X-ray imaging got here again clear. He added that he may grip a bat and hoped to be in Wednesday night time’s lineup towards the Orioles.

Wanting forward, if the Yankees do dip into the commerce market, first basemen who could possibly be accessible embody the Mets’ Pete Alonso (in the event that they’re unable to keep up their present surge and might abdomen the blowback of dealing him throughout city), the Marlins’ Josh Bell (who was traded on the 2022 and ’23 deadlines), and the Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker (in the event that they don’t warmth up), all of whom will hit free company this fall. Tigers outfielder Mark Canha, additionally a pending free agent, can play first as properly. With so many groups so near playoff spots, nevertheless, sellers could possibly be in brief provide, and it probably gained’t be till after the All-Star break — or even perhaps later — earlier than it’s clear who’s prepared to deal.

All of which is to say that the Yankees should should hope that certainly one of their inner choices helps to fill the void. The excellent news is that the crew has the AL’s greatest document (51-24) regardless of getting little or no offense from first base up to now. The unhealthy information is that ultimately they’re going to want some, and it’s something however clear from the place that’s going to come back.