NEW YORK — On-field microphones picked up audio of New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo cursing in agony after Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Ryan Borucki hit him on the right hand with an 88 mph slider. Rizzo initially stayed in the game but was quickly removed once the inning ended. It turns out Rizzo fractured his fourth and fifth fingers.
With just one regular-season game remaining and nearly a week of rest before the Yankees host the American League Division Series on Saturday, manager Aaron Boone did not rule him out to make their postseason roster.
“It’s something that is a pain tolerance thing,” Boone said. “We’ll see as the days unfold here with what we have.”
Rizzo tried testing his hand to resume playing, but Boone said it didn’t feel right as he attempted to squeeze his hand inside his glove. It’s also Rizzo’s lead hand for his follow-through in his swing. Fractured fingers won’t heal before the ALDS starts, so the Yankees must consider whether a compromised Rizzo is their best option at first base.
Rizzo in a lot of pain after this hit by pitch but he stays in the game pic.twitter.com/65zONns19U
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 28, 2024
If Rizzo cannot play in the ALDS, the Yankees could turn to either Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu or Ben Rice as their primary first baseman. Cabrera has looked comfortable at the position in limited action, even though he’s played first base sparingly throughout his first two seasons in the majors. Cabrera entered Saturday’s game with a .754 OPS in the second half of the season.
If the Yankees went with an upside play, Rice would be the choice. He learned first base on the fly in the big leagues earlier this season and graded out slightly positively. Rice struggled immensely at the plate in his final 14 games, going 2-for-35 with 11 strikeouts before being sent back to Triple A when Rizzo returned from a fractured forearm.
After returning to Triple A, Rice raked. He hit nine home runs in 19 games to end the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Rice also had encouraging advanced metrics that suggested he would have success with a larger sample size in the majors. His xWOBA (a contact quality measure), average exit velocity, barrel percentage, chase percentage, and walk percentage were all well above the major-league average. Rice posted a .624 OPS in 49 games, so if they went with him as the choice to potentially replace Rizzo, they would be banking on the analytics working in his favor with more at-bats.
“He’s gone down and played really well again this last month at Triple A,” Boone said of Rice. “He would definitely be in the mix.”
The Yankees could also use LeMahieu, who is ramping up baseball activities after going on the injured list with a right hip impingement. LeMahieu was one of MLB’s worst performers after starting his season late due to a non-displaced fracture on the top of his right foot. It seems unwise to think LeMahieu can regain his form just days before the postseason begins.
First base has been a glaring weak spot for the Yankees all season. They entered Saturday’s game with the second-worst wRC+ from their first basemen this season, with only the Colorado Rockies providing worse offensive production at the position. Rizzo had a .643 OPS since returning from the injured list on Sept. 1, but even that low mark was better than what the Yankees were getting from LeMahieu and Rice.
If Rizzo is unable to return before the season ends, it’s possible Saturday could be the last time he plays for the Yankees. He has a $17 million club option for 2025, which the Yankees will almost certainly decline. It’s possible the two sides could agree to a smaller contract, especially with him owed $6 million in a buyout.
In the meantime, the Yankees could be down their best defensive first baseman and one of only two players on their roster (the other being Juan Soto) who has won a World Series ring.
“He’s come back and done a really good job for us helping anchor our defense,” Boone said. “I feel like he’s been giving us really good at-bats at the bottom of the order. We’ll see what we have moving forward. I don’t want to jump to anything. We’ll see how he responds in the next several days before we kick this thing off in a week.”
(Photo: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
