The Yankees are shutting down first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the rest of the season, manager Aaron Boone told the beat, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The three-time All-Star has spent the past month on the injured list while battling post-concussion syndrome.
According to Boone, Rizzo has made recent cognitive progress. With less than a month to go before season’s end, however, the Yankees have decided not to push for a return. Despite taking seven of their last 10, New York still sits eight games back of a playoff spot. They’ve clearly turned their attention toward 2024, bringing up Oswald Peraza, Everson Pereira, Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells for the stretch run.
Rizzo concludes the year with a .244/.328/.378 line through 421 plate appearances. It seems fair to attribute those uncharacteristically middling numbers in large part to the injury. At the time of his IL placement, Boone indicated that the Yankees believed Rizzo’s symptoms tracked back to a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. on May 28. Rizzo carried a .304/.376/.505 slash through that date but hit just .172/.271/.225 thereafter.
The primary goal is to get him back to full strength. The veteran told reporters last month that he’d felt unusually fatigued and sometimes struggled to remember how many outs were recorded in an inning. There’s clearly reason for utmost caution, particularly with the team all but officially out of contention.
Rizzo is under contract for another season at $17M. He’s also guaranteed at least a $6M buyout on a $17M club option for the ’25 campaign. He’ll presumably have the inside track at the season-opening first base job in 2024 if he’s able to progress through a standard offseason.
Since Rizzo’s IL placement, the Yankees have divided first base reps between DJ LeMahieu and Jake Bauers. Bauers got the early run but has fallen off of late, leaving the position primarily to LeMahieu. He’s hitting well in the second half to hold things down, while Gleyber Torres and Peraza handle second and third base, respectively.
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