ANAHEIM, Calif. — Anthony Rizzo hit a home run for the second night in a row and his blistering knock powered the Yankees to Tuesday’s 7-4 win over the Angels. The hitter was all smiles despite a nagging back pain that could force him to miss more games.
Rizzo has now 30 home runs this season and he looked like in tremendous form at Angel Stadium. But on Tuesday, the player was trying to hide more back pain at his locker. A flare-up in back problems may force the Yankees to drop him.
He missed Wednesday’s series finale against Los Angeles and his absence could prolong. While the Yankees are traveling to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL., this weekend, manager Aaron Boone is all set to drop Rizzo to the bench.
That could be something that we do, but we’ll see, Boone said. It’s not going to be an IL situation.
Rizzo hasn’t been on the injury list this season, but he missed four games from July 5–8 and five in a row from August 5–9 because of a stiff lower back. Boone said that Rizzo could have come off the bench in the game on Wednesday.
Rizzo was hitting well before this flare-up. He’s hitting .225 overall but .282 in his last 11 games since Aug. 18. He hit 30-homers for the second season in a row and sixth time in 12 big-league seasons. He homered for the first time in 10 games in Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Angels.
Obviously he’s got good results the last couple of days, but it’s definitely been something that’s wearing him down a little bit, Boone said. He just can’t move like he’d like. He’s dealing with some pain in there. He’s not able to do the level of exercises that he usually does to be able to prepare himself to play every day.
According to Boone, he is concerned about the fact that Rizzo’s back continues to be an issue on and off.
I think we have a good plan in place moving forward that we’re confident that we can get it corrected, Boone said.
When will Rizzo be fit to play? Will he be on the bench or at field when the Yankees are playing in Tampa? Let’ the baseball fans know what you think.
