Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka were physically at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday after being at home on Sunday and Monday because they felt under the weather. Higashioka felt good enough to be added back to the active roster, but he was not in the starting lineup. Gallo and Josh Donaldson are still on the COVID-19 list.
“Joey and Higgy are both here and doing well,” Boone said. “They went through some workouts. They’re doing really well. Josh [Donaldson] It’s still in season so we told him to stay at home.”
Both Gallo and Donaldson continue to test negative for COVID. Boone said, to his knowledge, no one else in the Yankee Clubhouse is feeling sick. With a wave of players hitting COVID IL again and players needing to be called from the minor leagues at short notice, Boone was asked if it reminded him of the hectic nature of the first two seasons that took place during the pandemic. were played.
“Twenty-twenties and 2021 felt like a scramble,” Boone said. “There have been hours in the last few days where it felt like a little scuffle, but nothing we can’t handle.”
After Boone spoke to reporters, DJ LeMahieu was also scratched from the lineup with “left wrist trouble”. He was originally placed at third base and the leadoff position, but the updated lineup card showed Aaron Hicks batting first and Marvin Gonzalez batting at eighth.
LeMahieu was present at Yankee Stadium before the game and on the field during batting practice. After the game, Boone explained what was going on in the fielder’s wrist.
“DJ got an MRI and it was clean,” he said. “It was really good news. He got a cortisone shot. We’re very optimistic that he’s back, if not [Wednesday] Then the next day.”
Chapman IL. going on
Aroldis Chapman hasn’t pitched since Sunday, the day he publicly admitted he had some problems with his left Achilles. On Tuesday, he was officially placed on a 15-day injured list with Achilles tendinitis.
Boone called an IL tenure a “likely” scenario during his pregame press conference, which was about an hour and a half before the move was made official. His update on Chapman was a bit sunny, but apparently the clouds haven’t completely dissipated.
“Chappie is doing a little better,” Boone said. “He’s improving.”
Close has received treatment on the tendon, which Boone said didn’t involve injections of any kind.
RIZZO is not hitting
Anthony Rizzo cools off as Aaron Judge sets fire to everything that comes his way.
Rizzo’s tremendous start to the season added a good coat of paint to his total, but in the month of May, he has been a .183 hitter. The first baseman’s power has also dried up, as nine of his 10 home runs came in April.
“I guess it’s a matter of time,” Aaron Boone said of Rizzo’s recent issues at the plate. “Sometimes he gets a little late on the pitches or just miss-hits a few pitches, so that the quality of contact is not the same. I think that consistent quality of contact is probably as simple as a matter of time.”
Many hitters have bad months over the course of a season, and someone with enough experience as Rizzo usually knows how to get back on track. But that streak is something to monitor with the 32-year-old, who doesn’t quite look like himself since contracting COVID last August, especially in the slugging department.
A player with a .481 career slugging percentage who owns five career seasons with a slugging percentage north of .500, Rizzo dropped .397 last season after returning from the COVID injured list. His stellar start to the season is the best he has ever had in his Yankee career.
In April 2022, he slowed to .675 with 13 extra base hits and 21 RBIs. In May, those numbers are back down to .310, six and four. Maybe June will bring the magic potion back to Rizzo’s bat.
“Hitting can be so fickle, even if you’re really good at it,” Boone said bluntly.
Rizzo, almost on cue, hit a home run in his first at-bat of Tuesday night’s chaotic victory against the Orioles.
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