Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo is returning to New York to undergo more tests. This came after the first baseman did running on Monday in his first practice session since the concussion diagnosis.
The Yankees decided to put Anthony Rizzo on the injured list for 10 days on August 3 because of post-concussion syndrome. This came more than two months after he probably got a concussion during a collision in San Diego casting doubts on the Yankees’ focus on players’ health.
Anthony Rizzo’s latest injury update
According to a report by Meredith Marakovits on the YES Network, Anthony Rizzo will be returning to New York on Tuesday. He is likely to have additional medical tests.
The Yankees star talked to Marakovits and shared that he’s getting better. He mentioned that on Monday, he did some easy agility exercises and walked on an inclined treadmill. The team’s doctors advised Anthony Rizzo not to do any jumping or sudden movements while he’s recovering.
The head injury dates back to a game on May 28 when the San Diego Padres were playing against the Yankees at home. During that game, right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. accidentally collided with Anthony Rizzo’s head while trying to get back to first base during a pickoff attempt. After that incident, Rizzo had to leave the game and didn’t play in the following three games. However, he came back and played in 46 out of the next 49 games.
Anthony Rizzo’s performance took a significant drop in the two months that followed. He’s a player who has been an All-Star three times, won four Gold Glove awards, one Silver Slugger award, and has been part of a World Series-winning team. Right now, he has a batting average of .244 and an OPS of .706 for the entire season. This year, at the age of 34, he’s on track to have his least successful season since he first started playing with the Padres in 2011.
Before the incident, in the 53 games Anthony Rizzo played, he was doing really well. He had a batting average of .304, had hit 11 home runs, driven in 32 runs, and his OPS was .880. But in the 46 games that followed the supposed injury, his performance dropped. Anthony Rizzo hit only .172, managed to hit one home run, got nine runs batted in, and his OPS went down to .496.
Yankees need him back soon
During the previous season, the experienced player hit 32 home runs and drove in 75 runs for the Yankees. It was Anthony Rizzo’s first complete season with the team, and his OPS was .817.
After Anthony Rizzo got injured and couldn’t play, the New York team won 4 games and lost 6 games. This has made their position even worse, and now they’re at the bottom of the AL East standings. Currently, they’re 5.0 games behind the team in third place for the last Wild Card spot in the American League. With 44 games still left to play, their chances of making it to the postseason are quite low, at just 5.9%, according to FanGraphs.
Anthony Rizzo can actually come back to the team’s active roster now based on the rules, but it’s uncertain when or if he will get approval from the doctors to start playing baseball again. He is progressing well with cognitive therapy.
The Yankees are finishing their nine-game road trip soon, and they have a series of three games against their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, set to begin on Friday when they return home.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Rizzo should not chance going back to play so soon.