Yankees' Anthony Rizzo expects to play again this season
![Anthony Rizzo at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AYTRjMDk0YWEtZGM5YS00%3AYWEtZGM5YS00NzE5ZjA1%2Fspyankees230805.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Anthony Rizzo at Yankee Stadium on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Anthony Rizzo definitely still has his sense of humor.
The Yankees first baseman, who is out with post-concussion syndrome, was asked on Friday about when he had his latest medical checkup.
“I don’t remember when it was,” Rizzo deadpanned. “That’s funny, right?”
Rizzo can joke about it because he’s feeling better. He said the “fogginess” he felt before he went on the injured list on Aug. 3 is lifting.
“All signs of getting better,” he said. “Reaction times are faster, so definitely encouraging . . . definitely feeling better, too, which from last week to this week, the times were quicker and quicker again. So just waking up and feeling better is encouraging. I just want to keep having good days, and that’s about it.”
Rizzo planned to take batting practice Friday for the first time since the Yankees shut him down. The concussion issue stems from a collision he had with San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. on a play at first base way back on May 28. He struggled at the plate until it finally was decided to send him to a neurologist for testing.
With about six weeks left in the season, the 34-year-old Rizzo isn’t planning on shutting it down for 2023. He wants to play as soon as he’s able.
“As a baseball player, you want to play baseball,” he said. “Shutting it down is not an option for me. I don’t know how many more years I have left of doing this, so why shut it down and not play? The window’s small and it’s about getting back as fast as possible, and obviously as healthy as possible. But no, shutting down, for me, is not an option and hasn’t been discussed.
“I don’t have a time line. But hopefully in the next few weeks, I’m back playing. I don’t know. You’ve got to take it day by day, week by week. If we run out of time, then we run out of time. But as far as just shutting it down and turning it off, that’s something that’s just not in my nature.”
Mound matters
Long Island’s Greg Weissert (Bay Shore) was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the fourth time this season. The righthander is 4-3 with a 3.19 ERA and nine saves at Triple-A and after giving up a run and two hits in two innings in Friday night's 8-3 loss to Boston, has a 4.15 ERA in seven games with the Yankees.
The Yankees passed on calling up reliever Ron Marinaccio, who was expected to be a mainstay in their bullpen before being demoted on July 31 with a 4.08 ERA. Marinaccio is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and one save in five games for Scranton.
Manager Aaron Boone said Carlos Rodon will come off the injured list and start against Washington on Tuesday. Rodon (left hamstring strain) threw a five-inning simulated game in Tampa on Wednesday.
Luis Severino, who gave up five runs (three earned) in four innings Tuesday in Atlanta to fall to 2-8 with a 7.98 ERA, will start Wednesday, Boone said.