The Yankees haven’t made a decision on Anthony Rizzo’s availability for the ALCS, as the first baseman gets treatment for the fractured fingers he suffered just a day before the regular season ended.
But somewhat surprisingly, they hardly missed him against the Royals in the ALDS, when Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti played like veterans at the spot, despite having little to no experience at first base, and chipped in at the plate.
If Rizzo remains out in the ALCS, Aaron Boone said Saturday first base would continue to be a “fluid” situation.
That means more time for Cabrera and Berti, both of whom have played so little at the spot that they are both using someone else’s first baseman’s mitt.
Cabrera still has DJ LeMahieu’s glove and Berti said Saturday that while he’s had one in the past, he misplaced it and is using the glove of Brett Weber, the team’s director of advance scouting and a coaching assistant.
“It’s the first one I tried out,’’ Berti said. “And I really liked it.”
Ben Rice, who was on the ALDS roster and never got off the bench, could be another option there, but he has looked worse both offensively and defensively than the other replacements for much of the season.
“I certainly like what I saw from [Cabrera] and Berti in the first series, playing a nice role for us,’’ Boone said.
And an important one in a series where runs were at a premium, meaning defense was vital.
Cabrera started just four games at first base in the majors prior to the ALDS and Berti none.
Both players credited Rizzo for assisting them, but there’s no substitute for experience, as Berti described on a Zoom call from the Stadium, where the Yankees worked out Saturday.
“It’s a lot more difficult than I think people realize,” Berti said of playing first base. “I told [Rizzo] that the other day. There’s a lot to it, a lot of different positioning, a lot of different things around the bag you have to be aware of at all times.”
Asked the most challenging play he faced in the ALDS, Berti pointed not to the diving play he made to his left to end the top of the sixth in Game 2 in The Bronx but to the double play he started in Game 4 in Kansas City, when he grabbed a Michael Massey grounder and had to make a strong throw to second for the double play.
But that was just one of the challenges Berti and Cabrera have faced, as both started two games in the ALDS.
“It’s just learning every little piece of it,” Berti said. “Holding runners on base, different footwork around the bag, understanding ground ball situations, and you’ve got to get to the bag unless you’re involved. If a ball is hit to your right, you have to understand where the second baseman is at all times.”
Berti will take it.
He spent most of spring training with the Marlins before a three-team trade with the Rays brought him to the Yankees, in exchange for catcher Ben Rortvedt, after LeMahieu went down with an injury.
Berti then spent much of the season on the IL, first with a strained groin, then with a calf strain, but he returned late in the year and Rizzo’s injury has placed him in a key spot.
“It’s been a wild year from Day 1,” Berti said. “From the trade to injuries to coming back, it’s all been worth it to be here and help contribute in big games.”
