How Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo is providing stabilizing lineup presence New York needs in ALCS vs. Guardians

The table-setter for the Yankees‘ ninth-inning rally that secured Game 4 of the ALCS was a player in his 53rd playoff game, the owner of a World Series ring — something the Yankees haven’t won in 15 years — and someone who wasn’t even on the roster in the ALDS.  That would be Anthony Rizzo. 

The Yankees had just blown another lead to the Guardians and it felt like they were on the brink of falling even in the best-of-seven series. This just one day after being one out away from a 3-0 lead. Were they really going to let this thing slip away? 

Rizzo came to the plate to lead off the ninth inning of Friday’s Game 4. It was a tie game, 6-6. The tying run had just scored on an awkward play that resulted in a throw going through Rizzo’s legs. Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, the best reliever in baseball in 2024, was on the mound. Rizzo was fed a 1-0 cutter at 98 miles per hour. He punched it the other way for a single to start a two-run rally that would eventually put the Yankees up three games to one in the ALCS with an 8-6 win. 

Rizzo is now 5 for 11 with two walks in the series. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. He fractured two fingers when hit with a pitch on Sept. 29. This issue wouldn’t be toughness; it’s awfully hard to hold a bat with two broken fingers. He wasn’t on the ALDS roster. He returned in time for the ALCS and has been outstanding at the plate for the Yankees. 

“It’s a real injury,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think he’s managing it as well as you possibly can, and the training staff is doing a great job of keeping him going and keeping him prepared all throughout the game, but it’s definitely a pretty heavy workload maintenance-wise and making sure he can get through these games. It’s real, but I think once he gets in the game and they get him going, I think he’s felt really good.

“I think his at-bats have shown that.”

Rizzo doesn’t really have much power right now. In 92 regular-season games, he hit just eight homers with a .335 slugging percentage. He only slugged .378 in 2023. Tack the broken fingers on top of that and it’s easy to see he’s basically a singles hitter (he does have one double, but it was down the right-field line and not a deep drive off the wall). 

Still, he’s rocking a .455 average and .538 on-base percentage this series. That’s plenty productive even without home-run power.

The Cleveland fans have seen plenty of Rizzo in the playoffs before. In 2022, he hit .294 with a .958 OPS against them in the ALDS, a Yankees series win. And, of course, there was the 2016 World Series when the Cubs won it all with Rizzo as a centerpiece. He hit .360/.484/.600 that series with several big extra-base hits. 

Rizzo isn’t the same player he was then. He’s one of the elder statesmen and one of the very few people in that Yankees clubhouse to have experienced a World Series championship (along with Juan Soto). He’s also now solidified first base here in the ALCS, as it was a problem in the ALDS. He’s also now one win away from toppling Cleveland again in the playoffs and returning to the World Series eight years later.