Anthony Rizzo out with post-concussion cognitive impairment
New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo has not been himself lately, and it turns out that it is all down to a concussion he suffered in May.
The New York Yankees have placed first baseman Anthony Rizzo on the ten-day injured list with post-concussion syndrome. Apparently, it is all stemming from that collision that he had with Fernando Tatis Jr back in May.
Manager Aaron Boone said that Rizzo passed the MLB concussion protocol at the time, but that lingering symptoms are signs that something is not quite right.
Rizzo has reported feeling more tired than usual, but had chalked it up to the long grind of the season. “You wake up some days feeling not very good; some days, you feel better,” said Rizzo. “That’s kind of normal throughout the year. It was more walking back and saying, ‘Man, I don’t understand how I missed that pitch.’ I would swing at a pitch middle-away, and I thought it was three feet off the plate. Things like that really started making me concerned.”
Rizzo has been complaining of mental fogginess and it turns out that it is all a result of the massive clash that took place on May 28 with Fernando Tatis Jr. What is legitimately worrying, however, is that the Yankee fanbase has been calling this for months now and even with all of the analytics available to teams in 2023, nobody in the clubhouse took this seriously until now.
The numbers are stark enough to catch the eye of even the most luddite baseball fan. Before the clash at first, Rizzo played 53 games, had 11 home runs, and slashed .304/.376/.505 (.880 OPS). Since the clash, he has played 46 games, hitting only 1 dinger, and slashing a miserly .172/.271/.225 (.496 OPS). It doesn’t take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell you that something is off. It isn’t as if Anthony Rizzo suddenly forgot how to hit.
“Everything that they talked about basically came back with a silver lining: that I’m not crazy for walking back to the dugout consistently thinking, ‘Man, how did I miss that pitch?’ It came back saying I’m moving a lot slower than the normal person’s reaction time would be, and that’s definitely alarming, especially for what we do for a living.”
Aaron Boone says that the Yankees are taking Rizzo week by week, but now that they are aware of the diagnosis, there is a treatment plan in place, which includes taking supplements designed to help cognitive function.
It has been difficult for the Yankees this last week, with Rizzo going 0 for 5 for the first time in his career and Domingo Germán headed into rehab for alcohol addiction.