Yankees' Anthony Rizzo begins rehab assignment with Somerset

Anthony Rizzo started a rehab assignment Friday night with Double-A Somerset, the official start of his clock for returning to the Yankees’ lineup.

And though Rizzo hadn’t gotten things going — at the plate or in the field — when he went to the injured list June 18 with a right forearm fracture, his return can only be a boost for a position that has more or less been a black hole in his absence.

“Excited about the way he looks and feels,” Aaron Boone said Friday. “I thought, just seeing him in the live BP last week, thought he looked really good. He feels really good, so I think he’s really encouraged. He’s been running a lot, he’s been able to be in the weight room and things like that.”

Boone said Rizzo, hitting .223 with eight homers, 28 RBIs and a .630 OPS in 70 games before his injury, will DH in his first handful of games with Somerset before playing in the field.

Though Boone did not provide a timeline, he hinted that once Rizzo sees the field, he might return not too long after that. “Hopefully he gets through this,” Boone said of Rizzo’s games at DH. “I don’t think he would need that much time playing in the field. We’re about just getting [him] some regular at-bats right now.”

(Rizzo was 0-for-1 with two walks Friday night. Clarke Schmidt started for Somerset and allowed one run, one hit and one walk in 3 2⁄3 innings, striking out six.)

DJ LeMahieu, initially in Friday night’s lineup against the Rockies but a last-minute scratch after suffering what the team called a “facial contusion” after getting hit in the face with a ball during batting practice, has been a shell of himself all season.

LeMahieu, who missed the first two months of the season while recovering from a non-displaced fracture in his right foot, came into Friday hitting .189 with two homers, 24 RBIs and a .512 OPS in 62 games. The four-time Gold Glover also has had his share of struggles in the field.

Rookie Ben Rice, meanwhile, has cooled considerably since a blistering start. The lefthanded-hitting Rice, who has started primarily against righthanders but has seen his share of action against lefthanders, entered Friday hitting .180 with seven homers, 23 RBIs and a .653 OPS in 45 games.

After homering three times against the Red Sox on July 6 at the Stadium — which, generally speaking, caused far too many fans and media to declare the 25-year-old the next Don Mattingly or Mark Teixeira — Rice has gone 10-for-88 (.114) with 34 strikeouts and a .469 OPS.

“That’s the constant battle everyone’s fighting, just to find consistency,” Rice said, his use of the word “consistency” reminiscent of one of Derek Jeter’s go-to words in describing the hardest thing for any big-leaguer to accomplish offensively. “And the thing is you’re never going to be consistent 100% of the time. You’re just trying to be consistent for as long as you can and get back to being consistent when things aren’t going your way.”

Before Friday’s game, Boone said he’s been encouraged by what he’s seen from Rice, who was drafted as a catcher and essentially has been learning first base on the fly in the majors.

“I think still on balance, I feel like there’s still been a lot of good at-bats in there, even when he’s gone through some stretches where he’s struggled,” Boone said.

The manager referenced Rice’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly in Thursday’s 6-0 victory over the Guardians.

“Just a good approach,” Boone said. “We’ve gone through this stretch where we’ve seen a lot of lefties, or are in the middle of seeing a lot of lefties. That’s made it a little more challenging; he’s been in and out of the lineup a little bit. But I feel like, in my mind now, seeing him a lot, seeing him have some success, seeing him go through some struggles, I still feel strong that this guy’s got a chance to be a really good hitter up here.”

Aaron Judge, from the time he debuted in August 2016, has talked about enjoying the “cat-and-mouse game” that takes place between pitchers and hitters, the constant game-within-the-game of adjustments and counter-adjustments made. For all hitters — young ones especially — that is typically the biggest obstacle to consistency.

“I’d say part of it is pitchers making adjustments, part of it’s maybe me getting myself out sometimes,” Rice said of his slump. “It’s a constant game of chess out there. And sometimes you might execute and not get rewarded for it, and sometimes you don’t execute. It’s that constant chess game out there we’re always playing.”