The Yankees are shutting down first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the rest of the season, manager Aaron Boone told the beat this afternoon (relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The three-time All-Star has spent the past month on the injured list while battling post-concussion syndrome.
According to Boone, Rizzo has made recent cognitive progress. With less than a month to go before season’s end, however, the Yankees have decided not to push for a return. Despite taking seven of their last 10, New York still sits eight games back of a playoff spot. They’ve clearly turned their attention toward 2024, bringing up Oswald Peraza, Everson Pereira, Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells for the stretch run.
Rizzo concludes the year with a .244/.328/.378 line through 421 plate appearances. It seems fair to attribute those uncharacteristically middling numbers in large part to the injury. At the time of his IL placement, Boone indicated that the Yankees believed Rizzo’s symptoms tracked back to a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. on May 28. Rizzo carried a .304/.376/.505 slash through that date but hit just .172/.271/.225 thereafter.
The primary goal is to get him back to full strength. The veteran told reporters last month that he’d felt unusually fatigued and sometimes struggled to remember how many outs were recorded in an inning. There’s clearly reason for utmost caution, particularly with the team all but officially out of contention.
Rizzo is under contract for another season at $17MM. He’s also guaranteed at least a $6MM buyout on a $17MM club option for the ’25 campaign. He’ll presumably have the inside track at the season-opening first base job in 2024 if he’s able to progress through a standard offseason.
Since Rizzo’s IL placement, the Yankees have divided first base reps between DJ LeMahieu and Jake Bauers. Bauers got the early run but has fallen off of late, leaving the position primarily to LeMahieu. He’s hitting well in the second half to hold things down while Gleyber Torres and Peraza handle second and third base, respectively.
Hopefuly he’s able to recover and show no ill effects in his life
Bonus if he can return to baseball.
Absolutely, Jimmy Edmonds had a tough time… Nobody had a hall of fame career derailed further by head injury than Eric Lindros and Antonio Brown
Lindros looked to be a beast coming into the NHL.
Get well, get well soon, we wish you to get well!
Reading the box scores, it appears the Yanks have shut down their entire offense for the season.
And yet, they just swept the Astros
they certainly did
Want a cookie? Lmao
one month off and he looks ten years younger
baseball is a grind
Shut down Cashman now
No reason to bring him back this year. Let him rest. Hopefully there will be no lingering impact. Some concussions can still be causing issues a year on. He went from having a career year to a complete collapse. Scary.
They’re going to make Sean Casey the scapegoat
Make? Not like he did a whole lot. Hopefully him a soon him and Boone are gone.
Hard to say. He did seem to fix DJLM, who has given his credit for his turnaround, and that’s worth his two month coaching job.
Gleyber has also looked great lately
Tigers trying to singlehandedly get the Yankees back in the wildcard race.
He’s going to want a second opinion from his primary physician, Joe Rogan.
That’s a crap situation. Concussions that linger like that can end a career. Was it Michael Morse that never came back after that Harper brawl? And who knows if playing through it made it worse. Feel bad for him, he’s a good player and a good guy.
Come back strong, Rizz!
Justin Morneau had concussion issues and was still able to have a comeback. Hopefully it turns out the same for Rizzo.
Karma
“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them….maybe you can hire The A-Team.”
Such a good concept and such poor execution. They fired millions of rounds, and no one ever got killed, or even wounded.
They should make a real A-team for Netflix. Heck, pull in the entire team from Soldado (sp) movies.
He was a favorite of mine during his time with the Cubs, and started following the Yankees when he got traded. I hope he gets better and gets to comeback next year fully healthy from his concussion injury.
Good call by the team and hope Rizzo comes back fully healthy next season. DJL has also really picked it up as he’s hitting .262/.366/.429 since July 1st.
Overpay
If so one of many around the league.
Every Free Agent signing is an overpay. It doesn’t matter if they win the MVP. 29 other teams said they wouldn’t pay that much.
Not an overpay. He and Judge are tight. Commitment to him for a couple more years helped retain Aaron? Plus, of course, when healthy AR’s quite the hitter!
stymeedone – a free agent can only sign with one team and play for one team. Would you have every free agent play for minimum wage so as not to be an overpay? Get real – such a cynical statement from you – lighten up and tell us what is really bothering you.
Concussions are not like they seem on daytime cartoons. He obviously needs time, there’s no reason for him to rush back in this train-wreck of a season. As to Rizzo’s contract being an overpay–of course it was. There just aren’t many bargains in free agency.
If this was doctor, I’d have excoriated them. It took two months to figure out that a guy in a collision, that completely lost the ability to hit, and couldn’t remember the number of outs, had a concussion?
* ‘my’ doctor
It’s a shame. He was off to such a great start this year, closing in on 300 HRs and just hitting the ball all over the place. The rule changes really helped players like him and he’s long been one I’ve enjoyed watching.
It’s a fluky injury that will take some time to get over but I would assume he’ll be back next spring.
Imagine if the cubs listened to us fans and resigned Rizzo, Bryant and Baez. Yeesh. Bullet dodged.
At least Rizzo is still semi productive when healthy.