Anthony Rizzo returned to the Yankee lineup Sunday after lacking greater than two months with a fractured proper forearm and supplied some purpose for optimism that he may be productive down the stretch.
The primary baseman hit two balls arduous — together with an RBI double to the alternative area within the fifth in an in any other case depressing 14-7 loss to St. Louis in The Bronx.
Rizzo additionally made a pleasant play on a Victor Scott bunt within the second, attending to the ball rapidly and making a robust throw to get a force-out at third.
“I felt good,’’ Rizzo stated. “I undoubtedly felt snug within the batter’s field.”
Aaron Boone was impressed with each elements of Rizzo’s sport.
“I actually favored the play on the bunt to get the lead runner,’’ Boone stated.
However this was only one sport and Rizzo struggled for many of the first two-plus months of the season, in addition to in his last 46 video games final season.
When he went down with the fractured arm on June 16, Rizzo had an OPS of simply .630.
And final season, after he injured his neck and head in a collision at first base in San Diego, Rizzo put up an OPS of .496 OPS.
He stated earlier than the sport he believes he can return to being the power he was previous to the 2023 head harm.
“That’s the mentality, at all times,” Rizzo stated. “At any time when issues aren’t going properly, it’s straightforward to take a look at the detrimental if you’d like, however it’s getting again to getting proper. There’s no shying away from it. As a baseball participant, that is what you undergo. Hopefully at present I’ll get heading in the right direction.”
The Yankees are relying on him to supply some size to the lineup after watching DJ LeMahieu and Ben Rice battle by way of a lot of his absence.
Boone is aware of the one option to discover out is to see him play over the subsequent few weeks.
“We’ll see,’’ Boone stated earlier than the sport. “I nonetheless suppose it’s in there for him to be productive. I really feel like he’s strolling in right here with some confidence. He has an incredible monitor report, a confirmed cash form of participant — particularly this time of yr.”
