NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo still is playing with two broken fingers on his right hand, although the swelling is gradually reducing.
At this point, the veteran first baseman is running on adrenaline as the New York Yankees attempt to win their first World Series title since 2009.
“The biggest thing is just getting the swelling out between games,” Rizzo said Wednesday before the Yankees traveled to Los Angeles for Game 1 against the Dodgers on Friday. “It really blows up just from the pressure. The bones are still broken, but to be able to get the swelling out has been key and hopefully throughout this series, we’ll be able to manage it the best we can.”
Rizzo will appear in his second World Series and first since hitting .360 and catching the final out from Kris Bryant in 2016, when the Chicago Cubs ended a 108-year drought by beating Cleveland in a classic seven-game series.
The Yankees had lost their previous five trips to the American League Championship Series, including a four-game sweep by the Houston Astros in 2022. While Juan Soto hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the 10th inning in Game 5 in Cleveland and Giancarlo Stanton claimed MVP honors by hitting four homers, Rizzo also made significant contributions at the plate as the Yankees finally broke back through to the World Series.
Despite the broken fingers, Rizzo batted .429 (6 for 14), his best average in any postseason series and the highest by a Yankee in the ALCS since Alex Rodriguez also hit .429 against the Los Angeles Angels in 2009.
“Just take it one day at a time,” Rizzo said. “The adrenaline is real. We’re doing everything we can to keep the swelling out and wrap it between innings and in between at-bats. So you just take it, really, one at-bat, one pitch at a time on defense. For what we’re playing for during a game, I don’t really feel much.”
Rizzo missed the Yankees’ division series win over the Kansas City Royals after breaking the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan Borucki on Sept. 28. The Yankees opted not to put him on the 10-day injured list because it would have ruled him out of the ALCS, and Rizzo got treatment for the injury while hitting off pitching machines as Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera handled first base in the four-game series.
Rizzo batted eighth for the first two ALCS games in New York and moved up to sixth for Games 4 and 5 after not starting Game 3 because the Guardians started left-hander Matthew Boyd. Rizzo got two hits in Game 4, including a ninth-inning single off Emmanuel Clase that started the Yankees’ comeback against the All-Star closer.
“I can’t even believe it, to be honest with you,” rookie catcher Austin Wells said. “It’s a pretty incredible thing to have two broken bones in your hand and go out there and do what he’s been able to do. I really don’t have a lot of words for that.”
A three-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Rizzo hit .228 with eight homers, 35 RBIs and a .637 OPS in 92 games during an injury-interrupted season. He missed 62 games with a fractured right forearm after colliding with Boston Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernadino on June 16.
Rizzo batted .380 (8 for 21) after returning from the injured list on Sept. 1.