Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo left Sunday’s matchup with the Pirates in the third inning after he rolled his right ankle attempting to field a bunt. He underwent preliminary X-rays after the game, which revealed that he avoided a fracture, but suffered a sprained ankle, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma. He’s ticketed for an MRI on Monday, which will determine with greater precision the severity of the injury.
Of course, Rizzo and the Cubs aren’t out of the woods yet: though he didn’t fracture the ankle, a sprained ankle could still keep the slugger out for an extended period of time, depending on its severity.
If indeed Rizzo is required to miss time, it would only compound the Cubs’ injury frustrations that have taken hold of late. As the team takes aim at a postseason berth, star shortstop Javier Baez has been ruled out for the regular season, with his replacement Addison Russell landing in concussion protocol shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, closer Craig Kimbrel is fighting through elbow inflammation and has been unavailable for the last two weeks.
And while the Cubs are deep enough to tread water without team leaders and lineup stalwarts Baez and Rizzo, such a formula is less than ideal for the September stretch run, let alone in a postseason series. As the Cubs collectively hold their breath on the results of Rizzo’s MRI, look for Ian Happ and Victor Caratini to cover for him in the near-term.
For the season, Rizzo has slashed .289/.402/.516 with 26 home runs. Since joining the Cubs, he’s been a paragon of consistency and durability, playing 140 games or more in every year from 2013-2018 (He currently sits at 139 for this year).
sounds like a real head scratcher.
Just no more Descalso please…
He’s been god awful…
Losing Baez was bad, losing Baez and Rizzo is a game ender. If they end up dropping out of the playoffs completely they certainly have their excuses.
That’s a lame excuse look at what the Yankees have done with half the roster hurt
Because The Yankees are an incredible team that will possibly go to the World Series. The Cubs are barely hanging on to a wild card spot.
2 games out of division with 7 against cards .
That really isn’t necessarily a good thing. For either team. Unless one of them dominates the other, the victor is likely to be one of the teams under them for the second wild card spot. It’s going to be an interesting end of the year for the NL Central and the wild card spots. The Cardinals and Cubs have a tough schedule, especially being that they play each other so much. The Nationals have the Cards and the Phillies to play. The Diamondbacks have a lot of ground to make up. The Brewers are in the thick of it but are without Yelich and without dominant pitching, though their schedule for the remainder of the year shouldn’t be tough as long as they don’t blow it. It’s going to be a very interesting next 2 weeks.
right, because anyone else can do what the Yankees can do.
Meanwhile the real mvp is done for the year yet the brewers are still in the mix
Give it a few more days
And I got no beef with the Brewers, it would be a great story if they could somehow make it and do what they couldn’t do without their best player but I just don’t believe they have enough.
they werent keeping pace with Yelich, cant imagine they can without.
5-1 since losing Yeli
Took 2 of 3 from the Cards in StL and only one back from Chicago. Looks like they’re keeping pace just fine.
Maybe they should trade him then since they obviously do just as well without him.
SMH.
Love Rizzo, but his bat is replaceable in that lineup.
Not against the Cardinals, but regardless of the bat he’s a team leader I don’t know if he will be in the dugout with them but maybe that will at least help
Why wouldn’t he be in the dugout?
I dont think Baez is
A ,900+ OPS is not easily replaceable, if at all, at this time of year.
Hopefully he can be back in time for the playoffs. In the meantime, the cubs need Catellanos to keep playing like an MVP candidate.
If you haven’t watched the play already, I recommend doing so. Amazing that he finished and made the throw, even if it was a bit wide
Must be plantar fasciitis.
Bazinga!
Sprained Ankle…..He rolled it over making a play.
I’m more upset about the Cubs losing one of the best 1st basemen I’ve ever seen.
Best you’ve ever seen? What are, twelve?
Great comment right here
chitown311… Even when one of the MLBTR writers tells you to put a lid on your ridiculous hater comments, you just can’t help your self. Boy you must be one lonely dude.
I’m 63 and a lifelong fan of both Chicago teams. I’ve also seen my share of quality players at 1B in this town including a couple who are enshrined in Cooperstown.
I can say with confidence that Anthony Rizzo IS among the best first baseman I have ever seen at the plate and in the field. Just check out his numbers from 2014 to the present and see for yourself. Rizzo is still just 29-years old. If he can approach those numbers in his next 6 year run he will be in the conversation for a bronze HOF plaque of his own.
Btw: I don’t care what his dWAR numbers suggest. Rizzo has prevented plenty of errors for his infield teammates and saved more than a few runs for the Cubs pitchers with his glove, whether scooping up poor throws in the dirt or stretching his 6-3 frame to the max. He is a two-time Gold Glove recipient who has actually earned that award at 1B.
No argument from me Aaron.
I’m 68 and a Cub fan for 60 years.
I’ve seen a lot of Cubs baseball and Rizzo is among the best. A model of consistency.
Pretty much every year 30 bombs and 100 plus RBI’s. I’m with you.
that trade for Blastellanos is looking like a good one. he cant do anything but hit doubles. honestly. he’s the best example of a one tool player. nick can hit. he cant field great but oh man can he mess up an easy (or hard) out. and to be able to hit 50 plus doubles. we laughed at nick everyday since he was brought up to the majors. who wants to bet the cubs give him a 3 year deal. probably four
15 homers in 6 weeks isn’t too shabby either!
On the fielding rap, it seems he left that behind in Detroit where he had to cover a much bigger OF. He’s made every play hit his way and arm is average…no errors for him as a Cub yet!
And believe me, Cubs won’t be the only team after him this year! Guaranteed he’ll get 4 years from somebody.
Because errors are the only measure of a poor fielder…. dumb.
He has terrible range, doesn’t get a good jump on most balls and takes poor angles. Definitely a hard negative in the field, already worth -.6 dWar with the cubs so far.
Cubs wouldn’t be where they are now without Castellanos in the lineup. Why don’t you actually watch the game instead of reading about it on Fangraphs? And your last paragraph? Where did you plagiarize that from?
zid… Perfect.
These fans just listen and regurgitate what the media tells them. “Poor range, bad jumps, bad angles.” That is standard baseball talk for every poor defensive OF. Most of the time it’s not true. I’ll take a poor defensive OF like Castellanos over a good one, like Heyward, 6 days a week.
Totally agree. Astros guy is out of his mind. Castellanos is a lifetime almost .280 hitter. He’s lost homers at Comerica due to the size of the outfield. The guy is a doubles machine and just the professional hitter the Cubs need. Outfield play? I haven’t seen him misplay any balls since he’s come over. He passes the eye test for me with flying colors. I don’t know if the Cubs sign him or not but I think they should. Plenty of clubs would love the offensive punch he provides.
A dark cloud continues to hang over the Cubs despite their improved odds of reaching the postseason after absolutely trouncing the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend in Wrigley Field.
How many more impacting position players will the Cubs lose down the stretch on the heels of the Willson Contreras and Javier Baez injuries? Contreras finally returns following an extended stay on the IL and now Anthony Rizzo may replace him and join Baez on the list for the final two weeks of the regular season and potentially through the playoffs. OUCH!
meanwhile the White Sox continue their search of a dark cloud of their own but have been unable to find representatives willing to degrade themselves to that level
The cubs are lucky to be in postseason contention considering the season they’re having. This is not 2016.
I’ve been utterly humiliated. I guess I’ll just go walk off then
I prefer optimism over pessimism. Optimists find silver linings in dark clouds.
The Cubs had their share of both during a 3-year rebuild orchestrated by Theo Epstein when he was hired in October of 2011 and it eventually manifested into a World Series title in 2016. As a Cubs fan hopefully they can overcome the latest injury setbacks and prevail once again in 2019.
The White Sox are seeing numerous silver linings emerge this season as they complete year 3 of their own rebuild. This bodes well for 2020 and beyond and as a White Sox fan also I am stoked, much the same as I was during the Cubs overhaul.
What’s worse for you guys is how many games still have to be played on the road
Sure is a challenging season but
we’ll have to count on guys like
Darvish / Bryant / Scwarbs / Castellanos
Who are hot right now to lead the team.
I think the second National League wild card spot is going to create some chaos. I think there will be at least 2 tie for that spot. It will be a difficult task for the Cubs to continue to hold on to that spot their upcoming schedule and the piling injuries.
That said, the Cubs still control their own destiny.
As I post they are two games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central with 7 games remaining against the redbirds, 4 at home this coming weekend and three the following weekend in St. Louis to conclude the 2019 regular season. They’re still clinging to a 1-game lead over the pesky Brewers for the final wild card spot and now trail the Nationals by 1-1/2 games for the top WC seed.
The Cards and Nats square off in St. Louis for a 3-game series starting Monday while the Cubs host the Reds for 3 games at the friendly confines where they have been outstanding this season. The Cubs just need to keep racking up the wins at home like they did versus the Pirates this past weekend and they will gain ground on one of those teams they are chasing.
With 3 teams still contending for the NL Central crown and another 6 still vying for the two wild card slots, the final two weeks of the regular season promises plenty of intrigue, especially with so many of those clubs playing each other.
If the Cardinals can just hold out 2 more weeks, maybe every good player on the Cubs and Brewers will get hurt so they can back into the playoffs.
The Cardinals have been playing great baseball for the past couple of months before many of the star players on the Cubs and Brewers began dropping like flies. They can still be overtaken in the final two weeks of the season but if they do play baseball in October it won’t be because they backed into the playoffs.
Sure it will. They beat bad teams and can’t beat the teams with winning records.