Source: NJ.com
Watching the Yankees on YES last night, I heard David Cone say, "Who's the most important person on the Yankees injured reserved right now?" I paused. Just as Marwin Gonzalez answered with a 2-run homerun in the top of the 3rd inning. Now recall that Gonzalez has been asked to step into a big hole in the infield, a position he has not played before as a utility player. That position first base—where both our regular position player, Anthony Rizzo and back up, DJ LeMahieu have left absent for the last couple of weeks. So that most important person on the Yankees IL—one could argue both Rizzo and LeMahieu collectively.
According to YES reporter Meredith Marakovits, Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit off a tee on Tuesday in Boston and is hopeful to return for the Brewers series in Milwaukee or the Pirates series at home—which is likely more probable. As the New York Daily News reported, "The first basemen has been recovering from headaches he suffered after receiving an epidural to relieve back pain. Rizzo underwent a blood patch procedure that immediately relieved his symptoms."
The Yankees have been plagued with injuries again this season. Rizzo has been out of the lineup since August 30th ironically when he hit his 30th home run against the Los Angeles Angels. He has played only 117 games this season, with multiple games missed due to his re-occurring back issues. And Rizzo's back up at first base, DJ LeMahieu has been on the IL on and off dealing with a lingering toe inflammation. The toe injury has been impacting LeMahieu’s performance at the plate, where he was hitting an abysmal 10-for-78 (.128).
“It just got to a point where I wasn’t even rotating at all [on my back foot],” LeMahieu said. “I can deal with that [in the field]. That’s manageable. It is what it is. But when I can’t be myself and can’t hit, I’m not doing anyone any favors by just being a body out there,” reported The New York Post.
Sure one could argue that not having their pitching staff at full strength is the reason why the Yankees are underperforming, but I actually think Cone is onto to something. Having that first base hole there disrupted the infield synergy, bringing up rookies to "fill-in" for veterans and compromising the consistency the Yankees had in the first half of the season.
According to the New York Post, "Whenever Rizzo returns, it would be a welcome addition for a Yankees lineup that has missed his left-handed at-bat while also dealing with injuries to DJ LeMahieu, Andrew Benintendi and Matt Carpenter. “The fact that I think we have the [back] problem behind us and he feels really good physically and we’re going to hopefully get that healthy version back is huge,” Boone said.
Let's hope that both LeMahieu and Rizzo make their way back into the lineup by our next home stand against the Pittsburgh Pirates schedule for next week. And that this brings back consistency, energy and yes big bats to this much needed Yankee offense as they move toward the home stretch of this long baseball season in hopes of extending it even longer.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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