KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For two games, Anthony Rizzo watched. He talked with teammates in the dugout, tried to help however he could but did not take an at-bat or a ground ball at first base.
Before and after the pair of games in which he was benched, he worked on “everything,” Rizzo said, breaking down his swing in an attempt to revive his season.
Tuesday, Aaron Boone inserted his first baseman back into the lineup and watched Rizzo’s swing continue to not produce results.
Playing for the first time since Saturday, Rizzo went 0-for-5 — albeit with three hard-hit balls and a solid defensive day — in the Yankees’ 10-1 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
“It’s no secret: It’s a grind right now,” Rizzo said after falling to 1-for-34 in June, his OPS plunging to .611. “This is what makes you appreciate the sunny days in this game. … Just need one of those balls to find some [grass] to exhale a little bit.”
Rizzo said he believes his swing is close to what it has been in seasons past after using the couple of days off to “dissect and break down” his stroke.
Boone said he wanted Rizzo to “just turn the brain off a little bit” in sitting his veteran first baseman in hopes that a reset could work.
“It’s not something I’m happy about, but I understand,” Rizzo said of the decision. “It’s not like I was fighting [Boone] on it, but you want to play every day.”
The immediate results were not there, but maybe the process hinted at an eventual breakthrough.
Rizzo smacked balls at 104.9 mph (which became an error on first baseman Nick Loftin), 98.4 mph and 96.8 mph, but none got past the infield.
“As bad as it was, hit a couple balls hard,” said Rizzo, who Boone thought has been chasing too many pitches. “But kind of the same trend: On the ground to the right side and pop-ups to the left. Just trying to figure that out.”
Rizzo will have to prove that he still has the kind of ability that has shown through often in a three-time All-Star career. The Yankees likely would not be able to stick with a first baseman whose bat does not come around.
The in-house alternative has been DJ LeMahieu, and prospect Ben Rice has been swinging well first with Double-A Somerset and now with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The July 30 trade deadline looms as well.
After DH’ing in his return to the lineup Monday, Juan Soto was back in right field for the first time since sitting three games with left forearm inflammation.
Soto long-tossed with outfield coach Luis Rojas hours before the game, which led to the greenlight.
“I wanted to see how he woke up today,” Boone said of Soto, who went 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. “I touched base with him, he said he felt good.”
Soto playing the outfield allowed Giancarlo Stanton, who hit his 16th homer of the season in the win, to return to the lineup as DH, but Stanton took some pregame reps in the outfield on Monday.
Boone said Stanton playing the short left field at Fenway Park for a series that begins Friday is “a possibility.”
“That’s kind of what I prepared him for,” Boone said of Stanton, who has yet to play the outfield this season. “Whether I do it or not, just to have the option. … Even though we haven’t done it yet, I just want him to keep it in the mix.”
Boone passed Billy Martin for the seventh-most managerial wins (557) in Yankees history, trailing leader Joe McCarthy’s 1,460 wins from 1931-46.
Gleyber Torres’ RBI single in the fourth inning extended his season-high on-base streak to 18 games since May 23.
Gerrit Cole’s third rehab start will be Friday, Boone said, likely with SWB.
Righty Scott Effross, who is recovering from both Tommy John surgery and back surgery, threw a live session in Tampa and likely will begin a rehab assignment soon.
The same is expected for righty JT Brubaker, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery.