Yankees happy to get Anthony Rizzo back for his glove, too

MILWAUKEE — Mark Teixeira, a five-time Gold Glove Award winner at first base, had a go-to saying about the position he played in his prime as well as anyone.

“Anyone can play first base,” Teixeira would say. “Not everyone can play it well.”

It was a reaction to the “just put him at first base!” line often heard, from Little League on up, regarding a position player who might be limited in his mobility or simply on his last legs but still dangerous at the plate.

It gives some insight into what the Yankees have been missing with Anthony Rizzo.

Rizzo's balky lower back finally is no longer an issue, and  he could return Sunday afternoon for the series finale against the Brewers. If not then, he is all but certain to play Tuesday night at the Stadium when the Yankees open a two-game series against the Pirates.  

Regardless, what has been missing isn’t just Rizzo’s presence as a lefthanded hitter who has  hit 30 homers and diversified the lineup.

Rizzo also has been missed in the field, even as his defense was somewhat compromised at times by the back issue he’s been dealing with for much of the season. It cost him four games in early July and five games in early August.

“Usually there’s a great finish to a great play. And that’s the first baseman,” Gerrit Cole said Saturday. “I think he elevates the infielders’ game, just all around the diamond.”

Cole was speaking in general terms about the position and was not being critical of Marwin Gonzalez, DJ LeMahieu — currently on the injured list with an injury to his right big toe — or anyone else who has played first when Rizzo hasn’t.

“You don’t go in the six-hole and make an off-balance throw and not finish with a pick [at first]. That’s just the way it is,” Cole said. “Those plays, you never know when they’re going to come and they can be just pivotal plays. So I think it’s a tremendously important position to have great defense.”

Specifically of Rizzo, Cole said: “He brings probably that nuance that I’m not qualified to talk about, but his presence verbally in the field, talking to the players, mound visits . . . He’s got a slow heartbeat to him and just kind of a positive, edgy vibe. That seems to be impactful for his peers as well.”

Rizzo, who went through what Aaron Boone called a “heavy” day of work before Friday night’s game and went through a slightly lighter load before Saturday night’s game, might have been back sooner if not for the side effects he endured after receiving an epidural shot Sept. 1.

The most severe of those were debilitating headaches, which caused the Yankees to put him on the injured list Sept. 6. But three days later, Rizzo received a blood patch — a treatment option for patients suffering side effects from a spinal injection — and the results were immediate, paving the way for his return.

“Just getting his presence back, in the lineup and on the field, is huge,” Boone said Saturday.

But the manager will be cautious, given Rizzo’s nearly career-long battle with his back.

“I’m optimistic that back-wise, he’s in a really good spot,” Boone said. “The biggest thing now is I’ll probably give him a day [off] just based on him getting back into full-go baseball activity. If he’s able to play tomorrow, then we have a built-in off-day on Monday and then I think we have eight in a row. I don’t know that I’d run him out there eight straight, but we’ll see.”