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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo is expected to miss at least eight weeks after fracturing his right forearm, it was announced Tuesday.
Rizzo, who was placed on the injured list, said he will go “probably four or five weeks” without baseball activities. He would then need to ramp up and likely go on rehab assignment before rejoining the Yankees in August.
He confirmed he will not need surgery and fully expects to return this season.
“I’ve never gone through this,” Rizzo said. “This is my first fracture, bone break, so I assume I will heal fast with the treatment we have, but we’ll see how it feels.”
Rizzo, 34, suffered the injury — a fracture to the radial neck of his right arm — after colliding with Boston Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino while running down the first-base line during Sunday’s game. Rizzo landed on his right arm and immediately grabbed his right wrist.
He said he initially thought he injured his wrist, but the pain moved up towards his elbow later.
The setback comes after Rizzo missed the final two months of last season after playing through most of the year with post-concussion syndrome. He is batting .223 with eight home runs and a .630 OPS in 70 games this season.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s how you look at it, right?” Rizzo said. “This is part of it. The team’s in a great position. Obviously, there’s nothing better than playing baseball. It’s what we love to do. But now it’s just about focusing on getting better and coming back and helping.”
The Yankees called up prospect Ben Rice to replace Rizzo on his roster. Drafted as a catcher out of Dartmouth in 2021, Rice has also started 52 games at first base in his minor league career. He will start at first base and bat sixth in the Yankees’ series opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
The Yankees also placed right-handed pitchers Ian Hamilton (right lat strain) and Cody Poteet (right triceps strain) on the 15-day injured list. Left-handed relievers Clayton Andrews and Anthony Misiewicz were called up to replace them on the roster.
New York will have to make more moves Wednesday — to both the active and the 40-man rosters — when they activate Gerrit Cole from the 60-day injured list to make his season debut.
Hamilton suffered a “moderate grade” strain and won’t throw a baseball for three to four weeks, according to a team spokesperson. He was scheduled to receive a PRP injection Tuesday night.
Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, speaking to reporters pregame in manager Aaron Boone’s place, said Hamilton suffered the injury during Sunday’s game. Ausmus said Hamilton dealt with “much more mild version” of the injury earlier in the season.
Hamilton, 29, gave up eight runs (seven earned) in four innings over his past four appearances after yielding eight earned runs in 25⅔ innings over his first 23 outings.
Poteet suffered a “low grade” strain and will be shut down for one to two weeks, a team spokesperson said. Poteet, 29, made his Yankees debut as a spot starter in April and returned to the Yankees at the beginning of June to replace the injured Clarke Schmidt in the rotation. The right-hander recorded a 2.14 ERA in 21 innings across four starts.
Boone was not with the team Tuesday afternoon so he could attend his son’s high school graduation. The team expected him to join the club sometime during the game Tuesday night.