ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees have gotten significant contributions from nearly every player, including Anthony Rizzo, on their way to finishing with the third-best record in the major leagues through Wednesday.
But for the first two months of the season, Rizzo hasn’t looked his best.
There are worse problems than a league-average first baseman, especially since Rizzo still has a significant voice in the clubhouse that can’t be ignored when assessing his overall impact.
But when Rizzo is healthy, he has shown just how much of a force he can be for the Yankees both at the plate and with his pitching, and that is accentuated when he hasn’t been as consistent as he was early this season.
“You always have your best seasons and seasons where you struggle to make it work,” manager Aaron Boone said before Wednesday’s game at Angel Stadium. “You have to trust that Liz will make it work. He’s in the middle of a really good season, too. He’s had some stretches the last couple weeks where he hasn’t produced as much, but there’s definitely a chance he can make it.”
Boone lowered Rizzo to the seventh spot on Wednesday, his lowest batting average since 2011 as a rookie with the Padres, in part because the Yankees will be facing left-hander Tyler Anderson, the third lefty to be used by the Yankees in their past 31 games.
The left-hander has been solid against left-handed batters in his career so far, but has struggled against them in a limited sample size this season (.185 batting average, .439 OPS in 59 at-bats).
Rizzo’s defense was also heavily questioned again Tuesday night when he hit a grounder to right that should have ended the eighth inning with the Yankees leading 3-2.
Instead, he gave the Angels another out and they won, 4-3.
The 34-year-old four-time Gold Glove winner had made some defensive errors early in the season but had been playing well lately until Wednesday, when he dropped the ball twice in his two games, the first of which was on a bunt against the Padres on Sunday.
“Honestly, it’s disappointing,” Rizzo said of the defense in general this year, “but the last few weeks have been pretty good. But the standards that I hold myself to, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to make that play. It’s awful.”
Through 55 games, Rizzo’s Defensive Runs Saved minus-1 ranked 14th among qualified first basemen and his outs above average were tied for 16th.
“It’s a little bit different than usual, but that happens,” Boone said. “We always talk about our offensive linemen overcoming it. Even the best players overcome it sometimes. They make mistakes defensively sometimes. It’s hard. He’s been as good as ever, just had some little missteps recently.”
Rizzo was on the field at Angel Stadium early Wednesday afternoon to receive some additional batting practice from hitting coaches James Rowson and Pat Roesler, but he continues to have a quiet period at the plate.
As of Wednesday, he was batting .208 with a .555 OPS over his last 26 games and .245 with a .680 OPS for the season.
Among 25 qualified first basemen, Rizzo’s 0.1 fWAR was 18th. His .680 OPS was 16th and his WRC+ of 99 (an adjustment for the offensive efficiency in terms of run creation, where 100 is the league average) was 15th.
“It’s lower than we’re used to, but it’s also a level that’s easily reversible,” Boone said. “We just have to keep working, get a good feeling and hopefully see a steady climb.”
Boone said he doesn’t think Rizzo’s struggles have anything to do with returning from the concussion that ruined his season last year.
“He’s had a really great winter,” Boone said. “He was really good at the end of last year in September and then he had a really great winter. He was in great shape and had a really good spring. And again this year, since the start of the season, he’s been doing really well. We’re not that far away from moving the needle, where he’s suddenly coming out of rock bottom, no matter what situation he’s in.”
