Yankees trust Anthony Rizzo's input, put him on ALCS roster

The Yankees have their first baseman back.

After suffering two broken fingers on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch on Sept. 28, Anthony Rizzo hoped to make last week’s American League Division Series roster against the Royals. Though he made significant progress in healing, however, the hand didn’t allow him to go.

But the healing continued, and Rizzo showed enough — to himself and to the Yankees — that he was added to the American League Championship Series roster and started Game 1 on Monday night against the Guardians, batting eighth.

“Just Saturday, hitting and fielding and going through all the drills, really that night getting home, the way I recovered and then waking up [Sunday] basically felt the same as I woke up on Saturday,” Rizzo said  of what told him he could play. “So that was a huge indicator that not only can I go [Monday] but for the rest of the way out.”

Aaron Boone said adding Rizzo to the roster was a decision he “deliberated” about deep into the night Sunday. Because he said Rizzo had been “honest” with him each step of the way, it basically came down to trusting him.

It was Rizzo who went to the club a day before the Division Series began to say that despite the work he was able to do in the batting cage, the hand wasn’t quite right.

"[He was] pretty adamant yesterday that he's ready to go,” Boone said late Monday afternoon. “Trainers feel like he's in a good spot. I feel like just watching him out in the field defensively, he looks very Anthony-ish. Made the call and excited to get him in there.”

The Yankees were put in a tough spot when Rizzo went down before the Division Series. That left them with two utilitymen — Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti, who had never played the position before  — as their options at first base (rookie Ben Rice was on the ALDS roster but never was seriously considered for a starting nod).

Cabrera and Berti started two games each in the four-game victory over the Royals and, though not tested all that much, they more than held their own. Berti dived to his right to snare a line drive, turning it into an unassisted double play, and also started a key double play in the sixth inning of Game 4 in Kansas City on a ground smash by Michael Massey.

Rizzo, a four-time Gold Glove winner, gave high marks to his teammates, both of whom he gave brief tutoring sessions in playing the position.

“I think Cabby, his versatility has been amazing. The few years he's had in the big leagues, he's been so unselfish and such a team guy, playing wherever he needs to play. He thrives at every position,” Rizzo said. “Him playing first, I think was a little more natural than Berti.

"Berti kind of had a week to prepare, but he's an infielder. He's athletic. There's little tricks of the trade there that I tell pretty much every first baseman, but at the end of the day, you've got to be athletic, and he is.”

Gerrit Cole, who will start Game 2 on Tuesday night, also praised Cabrera and Berti but stated the obvious when it comes to Rizzo, who won a World Series title with the Cubs in 2016 and who has the most postseason experience of anyone on the Yankees' roster (49 games).

“It's big for us,” Cole said. “To be honest, Cabby and Berti had a tremendous series for us last time. A lot of credit to them for filling in in that role. But Rizzo is such an accomplished first baseman, a master around the bag. Just a slow heartbeat with a gritty at-bat, a lot of contact. Tony's a great player, so we're thrilled to have him back in the lineup.”

The Guardians, like the Royals, excel on the basepaths, and Cole said Rizzo can be a big help in that area, too.

“He's certainly got heightened awareness of the strategies to steal a bag and what somebody would be looking at in order to exploit,” Cole said. “And he's got a slow enough heartbeat that his focus . . . He can notice things and focus on things that maybe otherwise the players are focused on fielding a ground ball or getting off the bag. He's got a little more nuance to his game.

"Obviously, it's an advantage that he's a lefthanded thrower. The tag certainly provides an advantage in terms of reaching to the back side of the bag. Those are probably the main things.”

Rizzo, said he still feels pain in the hand, but it's something that, at this time of year, he can deal with.

“That's all it is. It's just pain,” Rizzo said with a smile. “It's temporary. And the 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what's at stake is going to outweigh any pain I'll be feeling.”