BRONX, NY: After today's game against the Cardinals, the Yankees announced that right-hander Will Warren and catcher/first baseman Ben Rice had been optioned to the minor leagues.
The Yankees are "likely" to activate veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo off the 60-day Injured List tomorrow, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, which suggests that Rizzo's relegation to the minors is tied to Rizzo's expected return from the IL. In order to make room for Rizzo's return on the 40-man roster, the team must make room.
Since rosters are expected to grow from 26 to 28 as the calendar turns to September tomorrow, an active roster move such as optioning Rice wasn't required to make room for Rizzo.
Having said that, it appeared almost certain that the 35-year-old's return from the injured list would eliminate the playing time that Rice had been granted since Rizzo's arm injury back in June.
Since then, in 175 at-bats, the rookie has struggled, posting a slash line of just .175/.259/.356 (75 wRC+). August has been especially bad for him, as he has hit just .057/.171/.057 in 13 games.
Even Rizzo's numbers from his career-worst season before his injury pale in comparison to those numbers. Before being placed on the injured list in June, the veteran slugger battled to a slash line of .223/.289/.341 with a wRC+ of 80 in 70 games. This was by far the poorest offensive effort he has put up since a 49-game stint with the Padres during his rookie season back in 2011.
The Yankees undoubtedly hope that the honored veteran, who spent ten years with the Cubs from 2012 to 2021 and made three All-Star appearances while registering a 131 wRC+, can regain his form in the latter part of the season and produce numbers more in line with his career line of .238/.337/.446 (116 wRC+), as a Yankee.
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