Yankees All-Star Suffers Arm Fracture, Will Miss Significant Amount of Time: Report

The New York Yankees will be without their first baseman for the foreseeable future.

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Anthony Rizzo, who left Sunday’s loss to the Boston Red Sox with an injury, has suffered a fracture to the radial neck of his right arm, according to The Athletic. Rizzo won’t need surgery, but faces an estimated absence of four to six weeks.

In the seventh inning of Sunday night’s game, Rizzo ran out an infield hit to ultimately reach on an error. However, he collided with pitcher Brennan Bernardino, who was running from the mound to cover first base. Bernardino wasn’t able to make the play, but Rizzo got the worst of it. The collision forced him to the ground and he stayed there for a while before walking off the field with trainers. Here’s a video of the play:

Yankees manager Aaron Boone knew it wasn’t good the moment he saw it.

“When he didn’t get up right away, I could tell he was in some pain,” Boone said to reporters after the game.

Superstar outfielder Aaron Judge provided a similar sentiment.

“You don’t see that from Rizz,” Judge said to reporters. “Usually he leads Major League Baseball in hit-by-pitches, so he’s good with dealing with pain. He’s tough.”

Rizzo, a three-time All-Star with the Chicago Cubs, has gotten off to a tough start in 2024, his fourth season with the Yankees. In 70 games, Rizzo is slashing .223/.289/.341 with eight home runs and 28 runs batted in. His .630 OPS would be the lowest of his career since his debut season in 2011, when he appeared in 49 games with the San Diego Padres.

Last week, Rizzo got back-to-back days off as he tried to work on his swing and get back on track. That led to hits in three consecutive games from June 12-14.

Now, however, Rizzo will miss a significant chunk of time, leaving the Yankees with a big hole on the right side of their infield. One option could be moving D.J. LeMahieu from third base to first base, as he’s logged 1,371.2 career innings at first base in his career, including 29 innings this year. Aside from LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera is the only other Yankee who’s appeared at first base this year.

If Rizzo is out for a while, the Yankees could look to add an infielder with first base capabilities ahead of next month’s deadline. There are also plenty of recently-DFA’d first baseman who could fill in for the time being.