ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees are hopeful that Anthony Rizzo will be able to get some relief from the nagging back pain that has limited him this season after having an epidural on Thursday. Rizzo stayed behind in California to see renowned orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins, who recommended the shots for the Yankees first baseman.
“So he did have an epidural yesterday in in California. Flew back today. Really optimistic that this is going to do the trick and be what helps him moving forward,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s series opener against the Rays at Tropicana Field. “As I was saying, he had an MRI a couple of weeks ago, that I think gave Anthony and us a lot of peace of mind and that that actually came back better than where he was even in spring training. So there’s, I think there’s a lot of optimism that the shots will kind of do the trick as far as getting the pain out there and hopefully when we get ready to start the homestand, he’ll be ready to go.”
Rizzo has missed 10 games because of what he described as back spasms that he had suffered annually over the last few years of his career. During this road trip, the pain became so bad that Rizzo, who did hit home runs on back-to-back nights, had to use a back wrap with infrared heat between innings.
