Anthony Rizzo’s return to the Yankees lineup just over two weeks removed from fracturing the fourth and fifth fingers in his right hand got off to a good start, but ended with some questions as Rizzo was replaced at first base by Oswaldo Cabrera to open the top of the ninth in Monday’s 5-2 win over Cleveland in Game 1 of the ALCS at the Stadium.
Rizzo said he had no issues with his hand and Boone said he removed Rizzo because “he was just kind of physically and emotionally spent there late in the game” after not having played in over two weeks.
The Yankees and Rizzo will see how the hand responds Tuesday before determining if he’s back in the lineup, but there were encouraging signs from the first baseman, who hadn’t faced live pitching since suffering the injury a day before the end of the regular season.
Rizzo ripped a single to center in his first at-bat and walked during a three-run second and didn’t show any rust on defense until he was unable to come up with a Brayan Rocchio grounder with one on and one out in the top of the eighth.
The ball squirted into right, and after a Steven Kwan RBI single cut into the Yankees’ lead, Luke Weaver stopped the bleeding and the Yankees held on to win.
Before the game, Rizzo acknowledged he would likely be in some pain, but was confident the atmosphere would make up for it.
“The 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what’s at stake is going to outweigh any pain I’ll be feeling,” Rizzo said.
For the most part, it worked.
“I thought he was sharp,” Boone said, “which was really good to see.”
The Yankees survived the ALDS without Rizzo on the roster, beating Kansas City with a combination of Cabrera and Jon Berti, both of whom played well at first and had good at-bats.
Still, the Yankees went with Rizzo despite his not having faced any live pitching in his rehab progression and only hitting off high-velocity pitching machines and the Trajekt (which mimics exact pitches of real major league pitchers).
“It was more a little bit of his conviction and the trainers feeling like he was in a good spot,” Boone said of the decision to activate Rizzo, who was hit by a pitch on his right hand Sept. 28 — leading to the broken fingers that typically would sideline a player three to four weeks.
Rizzo didn’t go on the IL, but he acknowledged he was not healed enough to be on the ALDS roster.
By Sunday, Boone said Rizzo was “adamant” about being ready. Rizzo had a brace with extra padding made to fit inside his glove Monday.
After returning from a fractured forearm — which cost him two and a half months — on Sept. 1, Rizzo had just a .660 OPS and no home runs in 22 games.
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He was much better in his final eight games, with a .962 OPS, but he won’t have the same runway this time around to settle in offensively.
The Yankees value the defense and veteran presence he brings on the field. One of two active Yankees to have won a World Series (along with Juan Soto), Rizzo knows what it takes to win at this time of the year, regardless of how he is feeling physically.
It was also clearly important to the 35-year-old Rizzo — who has a $17 million team option for next year or a $6 million buyout — to be back on the roster to take another shot at winning a World Series after doing so with the Cubs in 2016.
“I’ve had the opportunity throughout my career to play a good amount of postseason baseball, and this is what you play for,” Rizzo said. “The clock is only ticking on my age and getting older. You just never know when you’re going to have an opportunity to play for a pennant again, ever again. You can’t take any of this for granted.”
— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce
