Veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo will return to the New York Yankees roster for their best-of-seven American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians. The team announced their 26-player group on Monday morning, roughly nine hours before Game 1 is scheduled to begin play at Yankee Stadium. (Major League Baseball rules dictate that teams submit their official rosters at least 3 1/2 hours before the start of each series.)
Here’s the Yankees full roster:
Rizzo, 35, has not played in a meaningful contest since an errant pitch from Ryan Borucki struck his right hand and broke two fingers on September 28. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had originally expressed optimism that Rizzo would be able to play on without issue. That diagnosis quickly changed once it was revealed that Rizzo had indeed fractured two fingers on his non-throwing hand.
Although the Yankees earned a first-round bye on account of having the AL’s best record during the regular season, Rizzo was nonetheless unable to return in time for their ALDS against the Kansas City Royals — a best-of-five series the Yankees won in four games. The Yankees instead relied upon a makeshift situation at first base, with utility infielders Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti splitting time at the cold corner.
Rizzo hit .228/.301/.335 with eight home runs and 35 runs batted in over the course of 92 regular season games. His resulting 81 OPS+ was the worst mark of his career for any season in which he appeared in at least half of his team’s games.
The only other changes to the roster were the addition of Marcus Stroman and removal of Ben Rice and Duke Ellis.
Game 1 of the Yankees-Guardians ALCS is expected to begin shortly after 7:30 p.m. The Yankees will start left-hander Carlos Rodón while the Guardians counter with right-hander Alex Cobb.
