Yankees place Anthony Rizzo on IL with “likely” concussion, call up Oswaldo Cabrera

Ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Astros, Aaron Boone told reporters that Anthony Rizzo would go on the injured list with a “likely” concussion. The Yankees have reportedly traced the injury to the collision Rizzo had with Fernando Tatis Jr. when the Padres played the Yankees on May 28.

It’s a fairly shocking move, one that forces us to wonder where the organization was the last two months as Rizzo struggled. The first baseman missed a couple games after the Tatis Jr. collision with what was termed a neck ailment, but returned on June 2. Before that day, Rizzo had an .880 OPS, with a .496 OPS since, one of the very worst marks in baseball.

It’s stunning that it took several weeks of Rizzo looking like one of the worst players in the league before the Yankees took any action to see if something was wrong. Boone says that Rizzo passed through MLB’s concussion protocol back in May, but recently complained of fogginess.

Oswaldo Cabrera has been called up to take Rizzo’s place on the active roster. The 24-year-old has a .574 OPS in the majors this year, and has slashed .225/.346/.400 in ten games at Triple-A.