The Yankees introduced that right-hander Gerrit Cole has been reinstated from the 60-day injured listing, a transfer that was reported earlier this week. To open a roster spot for him, first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been transferred onto the 60-day IL.
Rizzo was injured earlier this week when trying to expire a floor ball. First baseman Dominic Smith fielded the grounder and flipped to pitcher Brennan Bernardino as he coated first base. Rizzo and Bernardino ran into one another, which resulted in Rizzo falling to the bottom and touchdown awkwardly. Video hyperlink of the play from MLB.com.
It was later reported that Rizzo was recognized with a fractured radial neck in his proper arm. The membership introduced that Rizzo could possibly be again in about eight weeks, as relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic on X. That eight-week timeline and the 60-day stint on the injured listing are roughly equal, so it’s not stunning that the Yankees determined to make this switch.
Rizzo will now be ineligible to be reinstated till the center of August, which will likely be attention-grabbing timing. The commerce deadline is on July 30 this 12 months, so the Yankees should make some choices about what strikes to make to handle their lineup whereas Rizzo continues to be away from the membership. A good chunk of their hitters are performing nicely however Rizzo was struggling previous to his harm.
In his absence, DJ LeMahieu and Ben Rice appear prone to share the primary base duties, however LeMahieu can be having a poor season and Rice simply made his main league debut yesterday. Gamers like Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres have additionally been struggling, leaving the membership with a reasonably weak infield group round shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The Yankees have the very best report within the majors at 51-24, to allow them to use the following few weeks to evaluate these gamers and resolve on their deadline plan. Rizzo himself got here to the Yankees in a 2021 deadline deal whereas Luke Voit was on the injured listing.
Rizzo and the Yankees reunited on a free agent deal going into 2022, a two-year deal with an opt-out. He triggered that opt-out however re-signed with the Yanks once more going into 2023, this time on a two-year, $40MM deal. Rizzo made $17MM final 12 months and is doing so once more this 12 months, with a $6MM buyout on a $17MM membership possibility for 2025, making it a web $11MM choice.
Previous to touchdown on the injured listing, Rizzo was hitting simply .223/.289/.341 for the 12 months and received’t have a lot time to enhance these numbers with this harm. His rehab progress and the efficiency of Rice will likely be attention-grabbing conditions to look at within the months to come back, because the membership can have some choices to make on the deadline and on the finish of the season as nicely.