Struck in the right hand by an 88-mph slider, Anthony Rizzo jumped out of the batter’s box in the seventh inning on Saturday afternoon.
“God dammit,” the Yankees’ first baseman yelled.
The ball, thrown by Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki, left Rizzo in visible pain, but the majors’ active hit-by-pitch leader initially stayed in the game. However, Rizzo’s hand didn’t feel right with his glove on, and he exited in the eighth before bad news was delivered after the Yankees 9-4 loss.
Rizzo suffered fractures in his fourth and fifth fingers, the ring and pinky, according to Aaron Boone. With the Yankees set to host the start of the American League Division Series in one week, the team may now be without its starting first baseman.
However, Boone didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.
“It doesn’t totally rule him out. It’s something that is a pain tolerance thing. So we’ll see as the days unfold here,” the manager said. “We’ll see how he responds in the next several days before we kick this thing off in a week.”
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
Boone added that Dr. Christopher Ahmad said Rizzo wouldn’t be at risk of further injury if he were to play.
“It’s just, ‘Can you can handle it?’” Boone said. The skipper added that Rizzo is trying have a “positive frame of mind” and indicated that he will be okay. However, Rizzo’s right hand is his glove hand and his follow-through hand on his swing.
Rizzo, who did not talk after Saturday’s game, has already suffered two derailing injuries over the last two seasons, as collisions resulted in concussion symptoms in 2023 and a fractured arm earlier this year. The 35-year-old, who returned from the arm injury at the start of September, is only hitting .228/.301/.335 with eight homers, 35 RBI and an 84 wRC+ this season, but he’s been more productive at the plate over his last 11 games.
Rizzo is also the Yankees’ best defender at a position with limited options.
Boone said that he would be comfortable with Oswaldo Cabrera at first should the Yankees need him there in the playoffs, but he’s only spent 69.2 major league innings at the position.
Boone also mentioned Ben Rice, a natural catcher who has spent a lot of time learning first this season. DJ LeMahieu, trying to make himself an option for the playoffs following a hip injury, did not come up.
Rice, a lefty swinger like Rizzo, made a strong impression at the plate with the Yankees following his major league debut earlier this season, but the prospect quickly cooled off. He was sent down once Rizzo was ready to return after slashing .174/.269/.356 with seven homers and 23 RBI over 49 MLB games.
The 25-year-old then went on a tear at Triple-A, crushing nine homers in 17 September games. Rice has totaled 31 home runs between Double-A, Triple-A and the majors this season.
“He’s gone down and played really well again this last month at Triple-A,” Boone said. “So he would definitely be in the mix.”
The Yankees would need to open a roster spot for Rice. That could mean Rizzo going on the injured list. For now, however, it sounds like they want to see how the next few days play out with the regular season ending on Sunday before a first-round bye in the playoffs.
