The New York Yankees have struggled recently to produce offense, and they will be without its two left-handed hitters for the foreseeable future. Aaron Boone said on Tuesday that first baseman Anthony Rizzo would be placed on the 10-day disabled list with a back injury. This past weekend, outfielder Andrew Benintendi was placed on the disabled list with a fractured hamate bone.
Rizzo, 33 years old, last played on Wednesday. Throughout his whole career, he has contended with recurrent back difficulties, which often sideline him for a few days every year. This past weekend, the back pain was severe enough to necessitate an epidural. The Yankees had anticipated that Rizzo would be ready to return to the lineup this week, but that will not be possible.
It should be mentioned that DJ LeMahieu, New York’s backup first baseman, is struggling with a toe injury that restricts his fielding opportunities for the Yankees. As a result, the team intends to bring up former Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzmán to replace Rizzo. This season, Guzmán is batting .260/.357/.467 with 12 home runs in 90 Triple-A games.
“Honestly, I no longer believe it has anything to do with the back. From the epidural, he is just experiencing headaches and other symptoms.” Boone remarked Tuesday. “Therefore, there will be at least a few days of ramp up time after we get him started. We must simply get him to that point. So this has been quite irritating for him for the past few days.”
In their previous 31 games, the Yankees are 11-20, averaging 3.29 runs per game while hitting .212/.288/.340 as a team, with Aaron Judge batting .310/.469/.660 during that span. The current New York lineup is somewhat flexible, but without Benintendi and Rizzo, it is likely to look like this on most days:
Rizzo has a batting line of.225/.339/.493 with 30 home homers this season. The remaining left-handed batters for New York have a total of 36 home runs, including 15 by the injured Matt Carpenter and 12 by the traded Joey Gallo. Carpenter is in a walking boot as he recovers from a fractured foot, and it is uncertain whether he will return this season.
The Yankees enter Tuesday with an 81-54 record and a five-game lead in the AL East despite their recent slide and with today’s postponement, will be heading into a double header tomorrow.
