Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Slugger Viewed as 'Long Shot' to Return for ALDS

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone got honest about Anthony Rizzo's chances of returning for the Yankees' next series.

Grant Young

Sep 28, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (48) reacts after being hit by a pitch during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sep 28, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (48) reacts after being hit by a pitch during the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
In this story:

While the New York Yankees have (mostly) remained relatively healthy throughout the 2024 regular season, the same can't be said for first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Broken bones have been prevalent for the 35-year-old this year, who only played in 92 of the Yankees' 162 regular season games. On June 16, Rizzo fractured his forearm in a seventh-inning collision against the Boston Red Sox, which caused him to miss more than two months of action.

And Rizzo has now been dealt another brutal blow right before the postseason. He fractured two fingers after getting hit with a pitch by Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki in the seventh inning of New York's September 28 game.

It's still unclear exactly how much time Rizzo would need to miss due to this injury. Before Sunday's regular-season finals against Pittsburgh, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Rizzo's injury, "It's a pain tolerance thing. We'll see as the days unfold here of what we have," per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

Although a September 29 article from the New York Post's Dan Martin provided some clarity on Rizzo's return timeline.

"Aaron Boone called Rizzo being available for the ALDS, which begins this coming Saturday, as 'very much a long shot' after he was drilled by a pitch," Martin wrote.

“We want to see these days unfold and, by the middle [or] end of the week, what he’s capable of doing to see if it’s even a possibility,” Boone said.

The Yankees having a bye through the AL Wild Card round is a huge benefit because it will afford Rizzo time to rest and test whether he can realistically compete with two broken fingers.

If Rizzo needs to miss more time, the Yankees will likely be leaning on rookie Ben Rice and versatile infielder Oswaldo Cabrera in his stead.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

Home/News