The Yankees introduced that right-hander Gerrit Cole has been reinstated from the 60-day injured checklist, a transfer that was reported earlier this week. To open a roster spot for him, first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been transferred onto the 60-day IL.
Rizzo was injured earlier this week when making an attempt to expire a floor ball. First baseman Dominic Smith fielded the grounder and flipped to pitcher Brennan Bernardino as he lined first base. Rizzo and Bernardino ran into one another, which resulted in Rizzo falling to the bottom and touchdown awkwardly.
It was later reported that Rizzo was identified with a fractured radial neck in his proper arm. The membership introduced that Rizzo could possibly be again in about eight weeks, as relayed by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. That eight-week timeline and the 60-day stint on the injured checklist are roughly equal, so it’s not stunning that the Yankees determined to make this switch.
Rizzo will now be ineligible to be reinstated till the center of August, which might be attention-grabbing timing. The commerce deadline is on July 30 this yr, so the Yankees should make some selections about what strikes to make to handle their lineup whereas Rizzo remains to be away from the membership. A good chunk of their hitters are performing properly however Rizzo was struggling previous to his damage.
In his absence, D.J. LeMahieu and Ben Rice appear prone to share the primary base duties, however LeMahieu can also be having a poor season and Rice simply made his main league debut yesterday. Gamers like Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres have additionally been struggling, leaving the membership with a reasonably weak infield group round shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The Yankees have one of the best document within the majors at 51-24, to allow them to use the following few weeks to evaluate these gamers and resolve on their deadline plan. Rizzo himself got here to the Yankees in a 2021 deadline deal whereas Luke Voit was on the injured checklist.
Rizzo and the Yankees reunited on a free agent deal going into 2022, a two-year deal with an opt-out. He triggered that opt-out however re-signed with the Yanks once more going into 2023, this time on a two-year, $40M deal. Rizzo made $17M final yr and is doing so once more this yr, with a $6M buyout on a $17M membership choice for 2025, making it a web $11M determination.
Previous to touchdown on the injured checklist, Rizzo was hitting simply .223/.289/.341 for the yr and gained’t have a lot time to enhance these numbers with this damage. His rehab progress and the efficiency of Rice might be attention-grabbing conditions to look at within the months to return, because the membership could have some selections to make on the deadline and on the finish of the season as properly.
