Anthony Rizzo has been in a horrendous slump for over three weeks. Now that Juan Soto isn’t around, there’s more of a spotlight on the first baseman’s struggles.
Anthony Rizzo pops up for the final out in the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night
Over his previous 22 games, Rizzo had a .186 slugging percentage with just two extra-base hits — a pair of doubles — in 91 plate appearances.
And after another hitless night in the Yankees’ 11-3 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday, he’s in a 1-for-29 rut.
Still, Aaron Boone said he hasn’t considered giving Rizzo a rest to see if that might jumpstart him.
“I haven’t decided to do that yet because I feel like the work he’s been getting in has been good,” Boone said before the game. “It’s about trusting that work, making sure he’s letting that process happen. You go through struggles, you make adjustments and the work is good and you don’t get a result, it can be [frustrating].”
After dealing with back and concussion issues over the past two seasons, Rizzo said he feels OK this season, but his decline has continued.
Anthony Rizzo
And it’s gotten worse lately.
His 106-mph groundout in the bottom of the sixth was the first ball Rizzo has hit over 100 mph in over a week and he followed up with a 102-mph grounder up the middle that Mookie Betts handled.
Rizzo’s average exit velocity for the season is a career-worst 86.3 mph, according to Statcast.
He popped out and stranded a pair of runners to end the first inning, grounded out to second to finish the third and then led off the sixth with the hard grounder to second that resulted in another out.
And instead of heating up in the warmer weather, Rizzo has just one hit in June.
“We’ve got all the faith in the world [in Rizzo],’’ Alex Verdugo said. “It’s a very mental game. You have keep your mindset and work ethic right. He’s a little bit in his head, but we’re working on some things.”
“He’s feeling it a little bit,’’ Boone said. “It’s part of going through [the season].”
If Boone and the Yankees wanted to rest Rizzo in hopes of sparking something on offense, they could move DJ LeMahieu to first base and have Oswaldo Cabrera play third.
For now, they are getting virtually no production out of the position and have continued to thrive — largely because of the brilliance of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.
But with Soto out of the lineup the last two games for the first time this season with left forearm discomfort, Rizzo’s slump is more problematic.
After scoring just one run in 11 innings in Friday’s loss to Los Angeles, they weren’t much more effective Saturday.
And having Rizzo hitting fifth hasn’t helped.
Just two years ago, Rizzo had a solid OPS of .817 and an OPS-plus of 130. This season, he’s been a subpar player by any measure.
The Yankees have a $17 million team option on the 34-year-old for next season that can be bought out for $6 million.
For now, they have to figure out how to get more out of his bat.
