The Yankees announced that right-hander Gerrit Cole was placed on the 60-day disabled list, a move that was reported earlier this week. Opening up a roster spot for him, for the first time Anthony Rizzo transferred to IL for 60 days.
Rizzo was injured earlier this week while trying to run a ground ball. First baseman Dominic Smith he fielded a grounder and was thrown into the barrel Brennan Bernardino as he covers the first base. Rizzo and Bernardino collided, causing Rizzo to fall to the ground and land the wrong way. Play video link from MLB.com.
It was later reported that Rizzo was diagnosed with a radial neck fracture in his right arm. The team announced that Rizzo could be back in eight weeks, as reported by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic on X. That timeline of eight weeks and 60 days on the injured list is about the same, so it’s no surprise that the Yankees decided to make this transfer.
Rizzo will now be ineligible for reinstatement until mid-August, which will be an interesting time. The trade deadline is July 30 this year, so the Yankees will have to make decisions about what to do to deal with their team while Rizzo is gone. A lot of their hitters are doing well, but Rizzo was struggling before his injury.
In his absence, DJ LeMahieu again Ben Rice it looks like they might share the starting duties, but LeMahieu is also having a bad season and Rice just made his big league debut yesterday. Players love it Oswaldo Cabrera again Gleyber Torres they also struggled, leaving the club with a weak group in the infield around shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 51-24, so they can use the next few weeks to evaluate these players and decide on their schedule. Rizzo himself came to the Yankees with a 2021 deadline deal Luke Voit he was on the injured list.
Rizzo and the Yankees reunited on a free agent deal through 2022, a two-year opt-out deal. He started that out but re-signed with the Yanks again through 2023, this time on a two-year, $40MM deal. Rizzo made $17MM last year and is doing so again this year, with a $6MM buyout for a $17MM club option in 2025, making the decision a total of $11MM.
Before hitting the injured list, Rizzo was hitting just .223/.289/.341 on the year and won’t have much time to improve on those numbers with this injury. His rehab progress and Rice’s performance will be interesting to watch in the coming months, as the club will have some decisions to make at the deadline and at the end of the season.
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