The Yankees dropped a game on Saturday, but the bigger loss may have their veteran first baseman just a week away from the start of the ALDS.
Anthony Rizzo suffered a fracture in his “fourth and fifth” fingers on his right hand, manager Aaron Boone said, after getting drilled by a slider in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 9-4 loss to the Pirates.
Boone said the injury “doesn’t totally rule him out” for the playoffs, but it will be a pain tolerance issue to see if Rizzo can make it back in time for the ALDS or anything beyond that.
“So we’ll see as the days unfold here what we have,” Boone said. “I don’t want to jump to anything. We’ll see how he responds in the next several days before we kick this thing off in a week.”
Rizzo temporarily stayed in the game to run the bases but did not come back out for the top of the eighth.
“Kind of testing it in between innings with his glove, it just didn’t quite feel right so had to get him out of there,” Boone said.
Rizzo, one of two active Yankees who have won a World Series, has not gotten a ton of results at the plate since returning on Sept. 1 from missing two and a half months with a forearm fracture.
But his presence defensively at first base has been valuable, and his absence would leave a big hole there in the postseason if he is unable to return.
Utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera replaced Rizzo at first base on Saturday and could be an option there, though Boone also mentioned rookie Ben Rice, who came up to fill in at first base when Rizzo was sidelined earlier this season.
Veteran corner infielder DJ LeMahieu is also working his way back from a hip impingement, though it remains to be seen if he would be ready in time for the ALDS and he struggled offensively before landing on the IL.
For now, Boone described Rizzo as “upbeat” and hopeful that he would be OK, though the Yankees may not know for sure about that until later in the week.
“We’ll see how the week unfolds, what his tolerance is, what’s realistic,” Boone said. “But right now, he’s just trying to have a positive frame of mind about it. [Team physician] Dr. [Chris] Ahmad said this is an injury that lends itself to … a pain tolerance thing. It’s not something that you’re in jeopardy when you play. It’s just, can you handle it?”