A year after his season ended prematurely because of a concussion and in the midst of a slow start to this campaign, Anthony Rizzo started his 25th game in a row at first base Wednesday night.
The Yankees have not been able to give Rizzo, who entered play having a subpar defensive season and with just a .626 OPS, a breather.
The ostensible backup first baseman is Oswaldo Cabrera, who has become the starting third baseman.
The Yankees’ infield has been unbalanced and will continue to be unbalanced for the foreseeable future after DJ LeMahieu’s setback and with Jon Berti not yet ready to return from the injured list.
Brian Cashman believed the issue would be resolved as LeMahieu made his return, but a foot that grew sore as soon as his rehab assignment began Tuesday has further complicated the Yankees’ infield predicament.
“I feel like we’ve got a little bit of exposure, especially first-base coverage behind Rizzo,” Cashman said at a mural unveiling hosted by The Bronx Children’s Museum and the Players Alliance. “And left side of the infield coverage is a little bit exposed with Berti down, obviously LeMahieu down. We’re a little vulnerable right now because of that.”
The Yankees entered play with six healthy outfielders — including recent pick-up Taylor Trammell and seldom-used Trent Grisham — and five healthy infielders.
The only backup on the dirt was Jahmai Jones, who is mostly limited to second base as an infielder.
Thus, Cabrera has not been able to roam around the field and has stuck at third base, Rizzo is entrenched at first and Anthony Volpe must literally be an everyday shortstop.
Berti, who is out with a left groin strain, could begin a rehab assignment this weekend and could become an option next week.
When he is ready, he could become a fairly regular player at third base, which would enable Cabrera to move around and give Rizzo and Volpe a day off here or there.
But the Yankees, amid a 17-games-in-17-days stretch, would have to survive for at least another week with a thin bench.
“It’s a little concern,” manager Aaron Boone acknowledged of the first-base spot before the Yankees played the A’s in The Bronx. “We’re not overly deep there right now obviously.”
Boone said catcher Austin Wells and outfielder Grisham have been getting practice reps at first and could become possibilities, and it appears as if an immediate backup answer would have to come from the current roster.
The only infielder on the 40-man roster at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is Jorbit Vivas, who has been activated from the IL but who is not yet positioned for a call-up.
The presumed roaming, backup infielder at the start of spring was Oswald Peraza, who is still at least a few weeks away from a rehab assignment following a shoulder strain.
There are Triple-A prospects such as Caleb Durbin and Jeter Downs who could help, but adding them to the 40-man roster might mean they would have to be cleared from the 40-man roster when players on the 60-day injured list, such as Gerrit Cole, Lou Trivino and Jasson Dominguez, are activated.
“I’d prefer not to touch the 40,” Cashman said. “I’d rather not jam it up. Hopefully we can just tread water and get through it.”
To get through it, the Yankees would have to continue to rely upon Volpe, who has played in 183 of a possible 186 games in a season-plus. They would have to hope for continued health from Rizzo, who has started every game but shown few signs of life particularly offensively.
They also would have to continue playing Cabrera every day and hope a breakout April can become a breakout season.
At the moment, they don’t have many other choices.
“The legitimate choices for Boone currently aren’t as comforting I guess,” Cashman said. “But that’s also the nature of the beast sometimes of how your season’s playing out. You got to grind the rope with what you got. And people get asked to do things maybe that they’re not used to doing. It’s happened every year.”
