TAMPA — Less than a week out from Opening Day, the Yankees are playing Whac-A-Mole in addition to baseball.
After a relatively quiet start to camp, new injuries have continued to pop up over the last two weeks, with Anthony Rizzo being the latest cause for concern on Friday.
Rizzo did not actually sound concerned about his left lat tightness, which forced him to be a late scratch from the Yankees’ 5-3 win over the Mets at Steinbrenner Field.
But given the Yankees’ recent track record on these things, it may be prescient to wait a few days before declaring that the veteran first baseman is fully in the clear.
“Honestly, it’s just being smart,” said Rizzo, who indicated he was not set to undergo any kind of testing. “It’s not putting yourself in a position to have to be hurt on Opening Day or whatnot. Still got a week.
“Fully confident that I’ll be there on Opening Day. As far as playing-wise, maybe Sunday, hopefully Monday. But if not, at this point, I’ll be ready to go. It won’t be an issue for Opening Day, that’s for sure.”
The Yankees need it not to be, especially because they are not particularly deep at first base.
DJ LeMahieu would be the normal backup there, but he is dealing with an injury of his own — a significant bone bruise on his right foot after fouling a ball off it last Saturday.
LeMahieu was able to take some batting practice indoors on Friday in a positive step, along with taking ground balls at third base, doing agility drills and throwing.
Still, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged that LeMahieu has “got a ways to go to be at the point where he’s ready to play.”
Oswaldo Cabrera would be next up at first base, though the Yankees may need him to be next up at third base if LeMahieu is not ready to start the season on time.
On Friday, the Yankees had non-roster catcher/infielder Luis Torrens start at first base in Rizzo’s place.
“We’ll see what we got [on Rizzo],” Boone said. “He didn’t seem worried about it, but again, you gotta make sure we’re good tomorrow, the next day. See how it progresses. It sounds like something he’s had a lot in the past. Hopefully we’re good to go for Opening Day.”
The 34-year-old Rizzo, expected to be the Yankees’ cleanup hitter, is in the midst of a strong spring and has already piled up 41 plate appearances in 14 games coming off a season that was derailed by concussion issues.
Rizzo, who last played on Wednesday, said he began to feel something in his lat on Thursday before it cropped up again on Friday as he warmed up.
He decided to tell Boone, not wanting to risk it “turning into something that could be really bad.”
“I know it’s going to ring some alarms, but I’ll be fine,” Rizzo said.
On the outset, it sounded similar to what the Yankees just went through with Aaron Judge, who went 10 days between games because of abdominal discomfort.
The Yankees insisted they were just being cautious and that Judge would be fine, with the captain allaying some concerns by returning to play on Wednesday and then again on Friday.
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Judge is expected to play again on Saturday and then on Monday to continue ramping up his workload, though Opening Day might be the first time he plays a full nine innings.
Before Judge and LeMahieu, the Yankees dealt with injuries to Gerrit Cole (nerve inflammation in his elbow) and Oswald Peraza (shoulder strain), who are both currently shut down from throwing and will start the season on the injured list.
As for Rizzo, he indicated he has dealt with lat issues previously in his career. Some keep him out six to eight days, others one to two, and other times he has just played through it.
“That’s when it actually really hurts,” he said.
So Rizzo chose caution, hoping to solve the issue instead of creating another one for the Yankees.
“This is precaution at the fullest,” he said. “Just knowing where we’re at in this spring training and this season. It’s just being smart. I think a younger me would have pushed through to just play and get a spring training game in. But it’s just not worth it.”
