The New York Yankees left Boston Sunday night with an injury scare. First baseman Anthony Rizzo left Sunday night's game against the Boston Red Sox early after a collision at first base.
In the seventh inning, Rizzo ran out a ground ball to the Red Sox first baseman and crashed into Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino, who was covering first base. Rizzo landed awkwardly on his right hand and grabbed his right wrist. The Yankees said that Rizzo had a right lower arm injury. He underwent a fluoroscopy and a low-grade X-ray; the results were negative. On Monday, Rizzo had more testing done, which revealed that he has a fracture to the radial neck of his right arm and will be out for four to six weeks, according to The Athletic. He will not need surgery.
"When he didn't get up right away, I could tell he was in some pain down on the ground," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Sunday night's game. "Obviously, concerned there. Just certain movements, even out there [on the field], kind of knew right away he was in some pain with just little movements. So wanted to get him out of there. Hopefully we dodged something, but we'll have to see what it reveals [Monday]."
Rizzo is hitting .223 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs this season. However, he has struggled recently. He didn't have a hit during Sunday night's game. So far this month, he is five-for-forty-eight (.104) with one home run and three RBIs.
With Rizzo out for at least four weeks, who should the Yankees have play first base? One option is DJ LeMahieu, who was injured at the beginning of the season and returned on May 28. He has been hitting 188 with four RBIs since he returned. While LeMahieu is a solid choice to take over at first base, there might be a better option. The Yankees should consider calling up prospect Ben Rice. Rice is currently ranked as the Yankees' 12th best prospect by MLB Pipeline, and Boone said recently that he's high in Rice, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com. Rice was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A, hitting .333 with three home runs and ten RBIs. Rice would be a perfect choice to play first with Rizzo out. The Yankees could also have Rice and LeMahieu play first, splitting the playing time at first base.
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