Anthony Rizzo Participates in BP Session Thursday
Just a day after getting the results from his MRI and saying that he hoped to avoid the IL, Anthony Rizzo was out on the field at Wrigley taking BP. The source of the discomfort that has kept him out of action for the last week was revealed to be rib inflammation on the left side that led to back spasms, something Rizzo has dealt with off and on since 2014.
At the risk of getting too excited, it looks like the swings seen in the clip below from Mark Gonzales are being taken with full effort or something close to it.
Rizzo taking some swings pic.twitter.com/1ayTgUq9Jk
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) July 16, 2020
It appears, however, that the main goal for this session is to adjust to tracking live pitches in the box. According to Jordan Bastian, was mainly just bunting or taking.
https://twitter.com/mlbastian/status/1283807851312537600?s=21
While playing through pain can be dangerous under the wrong conditions, there’s something to be said for knowing what the problem is and whether or not activity will make it any worse. If there’s no risk for further structural damage, I’d imagine Rizzo will be happy to grin and bear it. After all, this is a guy who played down the stretch last season with an ankle that looked like a bruised balloon.
For all you kids out there, please understand that I’m not advocating such a risk under normal circumstances. I trashed my knee and then essentially denied it for over two years so I could keep playing basketball and tennis, which left me with very little remaining cartilage by the time I actually underwent reconstruction. Not the best thing for later in life.
In any case, let’s hope Rizzo is simply following the pattern of rest and recuperation that has seen him play in at least 146 games each of the last five seasons. But if you happen to be one of those folks who craves a little skepticism with any sliver of good news, you can take solace in the fact that Rizzo’s back flared up following a BP session this past Sunday.
Fingers crossed, this will all end up as just another of the million little footnotes to a wild season.
