Anthony Rizzo headed to injured list with concussion symptoms in latest Yankees blow
Anthony Rizzo would wake up hungover without drinking a sip of alcohol.
His brain felt hazy at times, like he was in a fog.
His reaction time at the plate was slow.
He was missing pitches he had consistently hit his entire career.
He would swing at a pitch thinking the ball was in one spot when it was in another.
This, he finally realized, wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t just an extended slump or the wear and tear of a long baseball season.
Finally, after the Yankees’ series in Baltimore against the Orioles on Sunday, the struggling first basement decided it was time to seek medical help.
“Over the last few weeks, you start going to the different checklists of mechanics, timing, constantly being late. Why am I constantly being late? I’ve made these adjustments plenty of times in my career,” the 33-year-old Rizzo recalled Thursday. “I didn’t just forget how to, all of a sudden, do this.”
He went to the Yankees with his concerns, though Rizzo still started in losses to the Rays Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a neurologist determined that Rizzo likely suffered a concussion in a May 28 collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres and that has significantly impacted the slugging first baseman.
The Yankees labeled his condition as “post-concussion syndrome.”
Rizzo said doctors have called it a “cascading concussion,” and believes he was playing “super behind the eight-ball.”
Manager Aaron Boone described it as “cognitive impairment.”
“We went and got tests run, and it came back saying that I’m moving a lot slower than the normal person’s reaction time would be,” Rizzo said. “That’s definitely alarming for what we do for a living. But the good news is they said that with the regimen they put me on, it should be fully healed.”
He added: “It’s something that the neurologist said, too: ‘These things cascade afterwards.’ Every concussion is different. Sometimes, you don’t feel the initial blow. But what happens is your brain starts cascading. I guess that’s what happened. The way I describe it is, you go to bed sober and you wake up a little hungover. When that happens, I’m like that doesn’t seem normal.”
The Yankees placed Rizzo on the 10-day injured list prior to their game against the Astros in The Bronx and replaced him with Oswaldo Cabrera.
It is uncertain how long Rizzo will be out.
He is taking medical supplements to treat the brain injury and will be given a few days of rest before returning to baseball activities.
Rizzo did pass MLB’s concussion protocol, and only felt some neck pain as a result of colliding with Tatis.
“I felt like we were ready to go — felt normal,” he said.
It definitely makes sense that the injury is tied to the collision.
Through the day in question, Rizzo had posted a .304/.376/.505 slash line with 11 home runs in 53 games.
Since, he owns a .172/.271/.225 line with just one home run in 46 games.
But, obviously, his condition worsened over time.
“I’ve struggled plenty in this game, but I’ve also done it for a long time to know you usually come out of it and there’s some signs of coming out of it,” Rizzo said. “I remember talking to someone, ‘Oh, do you feel like you’re coming out of this soon?’ I answered it honestly, ‘No, I don’t.’ … I couldn’t feel what you’re trying to feel as a hitter. I guess now we can link two and two together.”
Rizzo compared it to someone who doesn’t realize they need glasses until they begin wearing them, and see the difference.
As frustrated as this process has been, the prognosis has enabled Rizzo to take a deep breath.
There is a reason for his massive struggles over the last two months.
It crossed his mind that maybe he had lost it.
But now there is at least an explanation.
“To find out these test results is a little relieving in one way,” Rizzo said, “because I’m not as crazy as I thought I was for what I was putting myself through.”