Yankees cautious over Anthony Rizzo’s bad back

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Anthony Rizzo‘s back problem has already caused the first problem of the year for the Yankees. The first baseman was supposed to come here on Sunday for the two-game road trip, but his back was hurting, so the Yankees kept him in Tampa instead.

“His back was a little cranky,” told Aaron Boone when asked about Anthony Rizzo prior to the Red Sox game. “But he’s good. We just decided instead of having him drive down here for these [two games], we’d rather just hold off and play him when we get home. We got that stretch of games. But he’s doing fine.”

Anthony Rizzo, who is 33 years old, played Thursday against the Red Sox at Steinbrenner Field. During that game, he started to feel something in his back. Boone said that Rizzo didn’t need to be tested, but the Yankees just wanted to make sure there were no more problems.

“It’s not a big deal,” Boone said. “He’s fine.”

Anthony Rizzo signed a two-year, $40 million deal to stay with the Cubs this offseason. He had back problems several times last year. In September, the back pain got so bad that he had to get an epidural. This led to complications that put him on the injured list. After that, he got back on track and was one of the Yankees’ best hitters in the playoffs.

When he got to spring training last month, Anthony Rizzo said he would have to keep taking care of his back all year. Boone said the same thing on Sunday.

“It’s a constant maintenance thing,” Boone said. “There’s always little things he deals with that have at times knocked him out. At times he’s played through it. This would be something that during the season, he’s probably playing through it.”

Ron Marinaccio struck out the whole team in his second Grapefruit League game. The Yankees started his camp slowly to help him get back to full strength after a shin stress reaction ended his season last year. Boone admitted that he had “some concerns” about Marinaccio getting back to full strength, but the reliever’s first two games seem to have put those fears to rest.

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