The longest home run drought of Anthony Rizzo’s career has finally come to an end.
His New York Yankees teammates did a little something special for him to celebrate.
Since May 20, Rizzo, known for his sweet power from the left side of the plate, cranked a moonshot that landed in the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium to extend the home team’s lead against the Kansas City Royals to 5-0.
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You could tell how much this meant to Rizzo when he had a big smile around the bases, but the crowd was extra loud because they’ve also been waiting quite some time to see one of their top sluggers go yard.
When Rizzo returned to the dugout, though, the love that the crowd was showering onto Rizzo wasn’t found.
They ol’ silent treatment was happening. Rizzo was laughing as he hit all of his teammates and coaches who paid him no mind, making his way through the dugout.
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But they finally cracked, as they poured seeds, gum and anything else they could find on him while giving their praise to one of the key leaders in the clubhouse.
For a power hitter, slumping doesn’t always mean not getting that batting average where it needs to be. Hitting home runs becomes a key component of why you’re high in the batting order, which Rizzo usually is on a nightly basis. He’s earned that right over his 13 years in MLB.
But he had just 11 homers going into this contest on Sunday afternoon, meaning it’s been over three months since he’s been able to trot around the bases.
Rizzo was still managing to hit .244 with a .332 on-base percentage. However, his slugging percentage of .379 would be the worst mark of his career since he debuted for the San Diego Padres in 2011 if the season ended today.
If the Yankees want to make a run at the postseason this October, they need players like Rizzo to get back on track offensively. They have the 22nd offense in the league in terms of batting average, and that’s improved since the start of the second half, as they were bottom three in all of MLB. A .301 on-base percentage makes them 27th in the league as well.
New York still awaits the return of Aaron Judge, but Rizzo needs to get those extra-base hits going for the Yankees as a whole to get back on track.
This was a step in the right direction, but likely felt much bigger for the left-hander now that he can throw that slump away.