When I hear the words back injury or back tightness, I think oh no, Don Mattingly and more recently Mike Trout. As someone who has battled her own overuse Achilles heel injury, you hear about a chronic recurring issue and you scratch your head, "is this a warning sign to something more serious?" Before we dig into that, there is a near term concern: What does Anthony Rizzo's back injury mean for the fizzling Bombers?
"The Yankees pulled Rizzo less than a half-hour before the first pitch of their 4-3 loss. Rizzo missed four games July 5-8 while dealing with lower-back tightness/soreness. Two of those games were against another NL Central team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the other two vs. the Boston Red Sox," reported ESPN.
The chronic pain is not something new for the Yankee first baseman. And that is the thing that concerns me. I remember reading about how hard it was for Don Mattingly, particularly in his later years, to just get ready to play nine innings—stretching out, performing mobility exercises and I would imagine some over the counter pain-killers. I realize he had a pre-existing condition, but as he aged, his condition worsened.
"I've dealt with this in years past, and I just feel like we've been ahead of it big time," Rizzo said, explaining that the spasms tends to resolve themselves in 6-8 days. "I went on the IL for it once... that was in April [of 2018] to be super cautious just because it was April. Back pain is the worst, but the progress we've made with the treatment is great," reported ESPN.
Prior to his recent stint to the IL, Rizzo homered in four straight games and is second in home runs to only his teammate Aaron Judge with 27 homers. The 32-year-old has been a big contributor to the Yankees' success this season, so seeing him sit even for more than a day is impactful for this team. His lefty bat has added a lot of versatility to the lineup let alone his stellar defense at first base.
So what does Rizzo's back injury mean for the short term, assuming this is just a short trip to the IL? It means the Yankees need to double down on guys like Matt Carpenter, Andrew Benintendi and DJ Lemahieu to pick up the slack. Of course, it would be good to have Aaron Hicks contribute, because as of yet, he offers nothing to this Yankee team. Perhaps when new center field Harrison Bader makes his debut in a few weeks, the Yankees can finally get some offense and incredible gold glove caliber defense out of a centerfielder.
DJ Lemahieu will play a lot of first base over the next few games, which means veteran Josh Donaldson needs to have consistently better at bats. I think he is capable of doing this, but getting it done is another story entirely. With Rizzo out, the Yankees have to step it up as a team to keep their momentum forward flowing.
What Rizzo's back injury means for the Yankees long term? That is the bigger question. And I hope it is not a Mattingly or Trout situation. My hope is that Rizzo rests, follows a good regiment to strengthen his biomechanics to take pressure off his back and stays healthy for the rest of the season.
With any team, there will be injuries and ebbs and flows across a long season. And with a guy like Rizzo out for even a game, it leaves a gap in the lineup that has to be filled with even more offensive power. As the Yankees continue to push through the dog days of summer, the team needs to continue to rely on each other, collectively, to make the plays, hit with runners in scoring position and fill the void when teammates go down. Bottom line—This team needs to win with or without Rizzo in the lineup.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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