The Opener: Rizzo, Carroll, Rodriguez

As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Rizzo to undergo imaging:

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo suffered a right arm injury following a collision with Red Sox lefty Brennan Bernardino at the plate in the seventh inning of last night’s loss to Boston. As noted by ESPN’s Jorge Castillo, Rizzo appeared to be favoring his wrist area in the aftermath of the collision, although MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch relayed that the Yankees termed the issue a “lower right forearm injury.” Rizzo is set to head back to New York today to visit team doctors and undergo imaging to determine the severity of the issue.

The injury is the latest tough blow in what has been a difficult season for Rizzo; the 34-year-old has slashed just .223/.289/.341 with a wRC+ of 84 in 291 trips to the plate this year. That production makes Rizzo one of just eight qualified first basemen to post below average offensive numbers this year, and of that group he’s outproduced only Joey Meneses, Spencer Torkelson, and Elehuris Montero. If Rizzo requires a trip to the injured list, Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu figure to handle the infield corners in his absence.

2. Carroll to remain in Arizona for MRI:

Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll was also removed in the late innings yesterday, with manager Torey Lovullo telling reporters (including Alex Weiner of AZSports) that the 23-year-old was suffering from “left side discomfort.” Carroll will remain in Arizona to undergo an MRI while the rest of the team heads to Washington today ahead of their series against the Nationals. While that might seem somewhat ominous, Carroll remained optimistic and told Weiner that “all indications” suggest the results of today’s MRI will be positive.

Carroll has had a brutal sophomore slump, slashing just .213/.302/.310 (78 wRC+) in 70 games this year. He’s started to catch fire of late, however, with a .333/.435/.487 slash line in his last ten games — making the timing of this injury all the worse. In the event that Carroll is sidelined, Jake McCarthy is the likeliest candidate to take over center field for Arizona, opening up the corners for veterans Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk.

3. Blue Jays to activate Rodriguez:

Toronto is set to get some reinforcements on the pitching side today, as Francys Romero reports that right-hander Yariel Rodriguez is set to be activated from the 15-day injured list today. Rodriguez, 27, was among the most intriguing free agent signings of the offseason as a young hurler who had impressed in Japan but had not yet appeared in a big league game. The Blue Jays took a chance on Rodriguez with a five-year, $32MM deal, but Rodriguez’s debut campaign has been marred by injury. The righty pitched decently in four starts with the club earlier this year (4.11 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate) but has missed the past six weeks due to thoracic spine inflammation.

Now that he’s healthy, Rodriguez will likely have the opportunity to step into the club’s fifth starter role in the aftermath of righty Alek Manoah’s impending UCL surgery. Rodriguez dominated in eight appearances at the Triple-A level this year, pitching to a 1.33 ERA in 20 1/3 innings while striking out an excellent 37.9% of batters faced. In order to activate him, the Blue Jays will have to create room on the active roster prior to tonight’s game against the Red Sox, which is set to begin at 6:07pm local time.