Anthony Rizzo Pulling His Weight Early Into Yankees Reunion

The lefty first baseman has played well so far, taking advantage of Yankee Stadium’s right field porch.

Anthony Rizzo may not have been the best first baseman available this past offseason, but the 32-year-old has been solid enough in the opening weeks of the 2022 campaign.

With players like Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson on the market, the Yankees re-signed Rizzo instead. A midseason pickup at last year’s trade deadline, the longtime Cub inked a two-year, $32 million contract to stay in New York. The deal includes an opt-out after this season.

While Rizzo does not address the Yankees’ long-term needs at first base the way Freeman or Olson would have, the move has worked out for New York in the short-term thus far. Rizzo’s five home runs, nine runs scored and 12 RBI all lead the Yankees after 16 games. He’s also leading the pack in ISO (.321), slugging (.571), wOBA (.417), and wRC+ (271).

Rizzo has the second-best marks in OBP (.382) and fWAR (0.6). He is also tied for the team lead with two stolen bases, though he is sure to be surpassed in that category.

All of those numbers are obviously over a small sample – Rizzo’s 68 plate appearances pace the Yankees – but it has been easy to see why New York was interested in a reunion.

The Yankees traded for Rizzo last summer because they desperately needed a lefty bat with pop and a defensive upgrade. While Rizzo has never been a .300 hitter, it didn’t hurt that he’s not an all or nothing swinger, either.

Rizzo got off to a hot start with the Yankees last year, hitting homers in his first two games with the club. However, he cooled off down the stretch, hitting .224 over his last 20 games. His entire 2021 season between New York and Chicago, along with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, pointed to signs of decline, but so far, Rizzo looks like an impact bat in 2022.

He's a perfect fit in Yankee Stadium, where four of his five homers have come. All of those dingers have been to right field, including his most recent. On Sunday, Rizzo golfed a two-run shot over the short right field porch in the first inning of the Yankees’ win over the Guardians.

Anthony Rizzo goes deep to give the Yankees a quick 2-0 lead in the first! pic.twitter.com/2jSd0HrnEL

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 24, 2022

It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers Rizzo can put up over the course of a full season at Yankee Stadium, especially from a power perspective. Right now, he is pulling the ball 58.7% of the time, a would-be career-high that suits his surroundings well. Rizzo is also hitting fly balls 46.7% of the time, another would-be personal best; it’s like he’s trying to attack that porch. With eight barrels and a 45.7 HardHit% – yes, another would-be best – it’s not a bad strategy.

At the very least, it’s paying dividends for the time being.

We’ll see if Rizzo can maintain this production – or relatively comparable numbers as his sample grows – but it always made sense that the Yankees were interested in re-upping with Rizzo for reasons beyond financials.

After years of ignoring a need for port-side power, they finally have someone whose swing plays well in the Bronx.

MORE:

• Yankees Recall Miguel Andújar From Triple-A
• Gerrit Cole’s Switch to Jose Trevino was ‘Seamless’
• Yankees Increase Security at Yankee Stadium After Incident With Guardians

Follow Gary Phillips on Twitter (@GaryHPhillips). Be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.