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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff WriterOct 4, 2024, 09:13 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo said Friday he will not be on the club’s roster for its American League Division Series against the Kansas City Royals less than a week after fracturing two fingers in his right hand.
The development was expected. Yankees manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman this week described Rizzo as a long shot to be ready for the series. Rizzo said he hopes to be ready to play in the American League Championship Series should the Yankees advance.
“I feel like gutting through it, I wouldn’t be my best version defensively or offensively and I had to be honest with myself,” Rizzo said. “But this team has a different aura to it right now and a different energy that I’m confident, hopefully, in the next round I can join them.”
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Rizzo suffered the injury when he was hit by a pitch on the right hand in the Yankees’ penultimate game of the regular season last Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He waited until Friday, when felt “a lot better” than he expected after around-the-clock treatment, to test the fingers by hitting and playing catch.
He said he “manipulated” his glove with wrapping so squeezing it wasn’t a problem. Catching balls at a high velocity, however, “hurt a little more than it should.”
Rizzo said the typical recovery time for his injury is three to four weeks. Game 1 of the ALCS is scheduled for Oct. 14 — 16 days after he sustained the fractures.
“Talking to the doctors, hopefully within 10 days I’ll feel significantly better so I can contribute,” Rizzo said.
Rizzo, 35, was limited to 92 games this season after missing more than two months with a broken forearm. He posted career-worst marks for a full season in batting average (.228), on-base percentage (.201) and slugging percentage (.335), but the four-time Gold Glove winner remained a sure-handed defender. And that is where the Yankees, who don’t have an obvious replacement, will feel Rizzo’s absence the most.
This week, Cashman said the primary options to replace Rizzo, a 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, in the starting lineup are rookie Ben Rice and utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera. Both lack experience at the position.
Rice, a rookie, was drafted as a catcher in 2021 and has 63 career professional starts at first base. Cabrera’s five professional starts at first base have all come this season.
DJ LeMahieu and Jon Berti are less likely options.
LeMahieu recently began baseball activities after he was placed on the injured list with a hip impingement on Sept. 9. The former two-time batting champion was one of the least productive players in baseball before the injury, posting a .527 OPS and 52 wRC+ in 228 plate appearances.
Berti, who spent time at first base during the Yankees’ team workout Friday, hasn’t logged an inning at the position as a professional. The speedy veteran started three games — two at third base and one at second — in September after missing more than three months with a left calf strain.
