new York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo talks to referee DJ Reyburn. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
Yankees First baseman Anthony Rizzo was pissed off after being hit by the ball, and referee DJ Rayburn overturned the call for his leaning into contact.
Anthony Rizzo has always looked like a good guy in baseball, but on Monday we saw him almost goofy over a disagreement with the referee.
In third from the bottom, Rizzo was in the plate against Thunder pitcher Ryan Yarbrough when he threw a curveball Hit the thigh.
The Yankees infielder thought he’d headed straight to first base, but home plate umpire DJ Reyburn ruled he leaned toward the field.
https://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1559329764569227270tttRizzo immediately confronted ump oone with manager Aaron B, as soon as he got the call Get out of the dugout.
Given how hot Rizzo is, he could have been thrown, but he avoided that fate, swinging and missing on the next pitch struck out.
His mood was still high when he returned to the dugout.
Afterwards, Rizzo was caught on camera saying very clearly, “Where am I going?”
An angry Rizzo is a rare sight. A rare penalty took it out of him.
The referee has the right to cancel a pitching stroke, but of course this is not a necessary call. The ball left the plate and went into Rizzo’s batter’s box. Of course, he could have done more to avoid it. Nor did he manipulate his body in shocking ways.
When a player tries to lean against the strike zone for HBP. it’s not like that.
Whatever the call, Rizzo’s frustration isn’t just due to a knocked over phone. The Yankees lost again to the Mariners, Cardinals, Mariners and Red Sox. They just lost DJ LeMahieu to injury and then lost their 11th of their last 14 games on Monday night as the Rays went 4-0 to win the first game of the series this week.
