BALTIMORE – Anthony Rizzo seemed to be going through a tough time in his life. He hit a new low with five strikeouts in Baltimore on Sunday.
After playing baseball for 13 years, this is unusual for the Yankees’ first baseman, who is still considered a hope for his team. Despite his struggles, Anthony Rizzo has always tried to find something positive to take away from the experience.
Anthony Rizzo remarked that he hoped the game would be a turning point after the Yankees’ disheartening 9-3 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards on Sunday, where he had five strikeouts as part of the team’s season-high 18 strikeouts.
Anthony Rizzo’s improvement stalls
Last weekend, Anthony Rizzo seemed to be improving, as he had a great performance, going 4-for-4 with a much-needed home run against the Royals. He gave credit to Taylor Swift, who sings his new walk-up song and felt optimistic that his slump was coming to an end.
However, in the five games that followed, the 33-year-old player’s performance declined, as he only managed to get 2 hits out of 21 at-bats and struck out eight times.
The positive performance from last weekend turned out to be deceiving, and now Anthony Rizzo is still struggling to find his lost swing. The first baseman expressed confidence of bouncing back but acknowledged that his mechanics might be off.
Anthony Rizzo believes it’s a mechanical issue that’s affecting his performance, and he’s not putting himself in the best position to swing effectively. He expressed frustration because he’s swinging at pitches he shouldn’t or missing ones he thinks he should be hitting.
“It’s frustrating because there’s pitches I’m just swinging at or taking. I walk back saying I don’t understand how I’m missing that pitch.”
After the first two months of the season ended, he missed too many opportunities. In May, Anthony Rizzo finished with an OPS of.880, which was similar to his best seasons as a three-time All-Star.
Rizzo’s Sunday turned upside down
Not every at-bat Sunday was disastrous, but none ended well. Anthony Rizzo battled Baltimore’s Dean Kremer for nine pitches before striking out on a cutter in the second inning.
Kremer struck him out again in the third inning, and Anthony Rizzo’s most disappointing at-bat was in the fifth. He was called out on a pitch that looked like a strike, even though the pitch that got Rizzo’s second strike seemed to be outside the strike zone.
After the call, the Yankees’ first baseman argued with umpire Phil Cuzzi for a while and then went back to the dugout. In the seventh and ninth innings, pitchers Shintaro Fujinami and Yennier Cano, who have strong throwing arms, struck Rizzo out.
Anthony Rizzo admitted that he wasn’t playing well and expressed his frustration on a personal level, mentioning that as a teammate, he wanted to do everything possible to help the team win.
The first baseman admitted that the Yankees have the right players on the team and that when he starts hitting again, even just a little bit, it will make a difference for the team.
“I think we have the guys [we need] in here,” he said. “When I start hitting again a little bit … just a little bit.”
His team would be happy to see even a small improvement, but it’s hard to imagine the performance getting any worse than it is now.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
The only trade to give them a shot at winning is Soto. He will make a huge difference in this lineup batting third behind Judge and ahead of Stanton. They also should let Boone go. He can’t seem to motivate a bird to fly. I’ve never seen a manager who makes worse decisions than Boone.
DFA,DFA,DFA