Anthony Rizzo will be welcomed back into the lineup whenever the Yankees deem him ready after his recovery from the fractured right arm that sidelined him in mid-June.
After all, the subpar performances from his primary replacements at the position, DJ LeMahieu and Ben Rice, have left the Yankees with a hole in the offense for much of the season.
The Yankees have yet to announce when Rizzo might be back — and whether it could be this weekend in The Bronx against the Cardinals — but hitting coach James Rowson is looking forward to his return.
“It adds to what we have, and we’re looking for depth right now,” said Rowson, who has seen the lineup depend too much at times on Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. “So the more depth the better.”
But as Rizzo has said himself, the Yankees need more than just his presence in the lineup — they need him to hit like he has in the past.
That’s something he hasn’t done much of lately, especially leading up to the freak injury he suffered against the Red Sox on June 16.
Prior to hitting the IL, Rizzo was in the midst of a brutal 29-game stretch in which he had just three extra-base hits and a .430 OPS.
He’s 2-for-8 with a homer, a pair of walks and four strikeouts in four rehab games with Double-A Somerset and didn’t play there Thursday.
“We know the value of Rizzo, especially a healthy Anthony Rizzo,’’ said Rowson, who was at Brush Park in Mount Vernon on Thursday, where he received a city proclamation presented by city elected officials and leadership. “We know what he can do to help with this final push, so I’m super excited for him to come back, the sooner, the better.”
The Cardinals are slated to start three straight right-handers this weekend, which means the lefty-swinging Rice would likely be in the lineup if Rizzo isn’t there for at least some of the games.
For the third time in his last five games Thursday, Jasson Dominguez started in left field for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
With rosters expanding Sunday, Dominguez could be in line for another promotion to the majors and would make sense in left, where Alex Verdugo has slumped.
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When he was called up to the Yankees for the first time last September, Dominguez started all eight games in center before his season ended with a torn UCL.
He’d been mostly working in center since returning in June, but after coming back from an oblique injury in mid-August, Dominguez has seen more time in left.
Verdugo has hit better of late, but Dominguez continues to shine in the minors, and it was just about a year ago when he took the majors by storm with four home runs in those first eight games.
Rowson spent part of Thursday at Brush Park, where he played in the Mount Vernon Little League. He spent time with current little leaguers after being honored.
“It’s humbling,’’ said Rowson, in his first season as Yankees hitting coach. “I can’t describe it. Coming up here as a young kid and having dreams, it’s so cool to come back and see it come full circle with the kids. I played on these fields. This is where it all started for me.”
