Aaron Boone's explanation for pulling Anthony Rizzo in Game 1 should concern Yankees fans

The New York Yankees' ailing lineup got a much-needed boost ahead of the start of their ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians, with first baseman Anthony Rizzo making his long-awaited return from the Injured List to not just make New York's roster but start in Game 1. Expectations should be tempered for the veteran, who was struggling at the plate this season even before fracturing two fingers on a hit by pitch — and who hadn't so much as seen live pitching before coming back to the lineup — but at this point the Yankees are willing to take whatever they can get at the cold corner. New York's first base situation has been among the most punchless in the league, cycling through utility names like Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera, and while Rizzo might not be much better, he at least offers some theoretical power upside.

He might not be back for long, however. Rizzo was pulled late in New York's Game 1 win, and Aaron Boone's explanation after the game should have Yankees fans everywhere holding their breath.

Anthony Rizzo 'physically and emotionally spent' after return to lineup in Game 1

Rizzo is just over two weeks removed from suffering the injury, and while he's not at risk of making it worse, that doesn't mean he's pain-free — far from it, in fact. "It's just pain," Rizzo told reporters ahead of Game 1. "It's temporary. The 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what's at stake is going to outweigh any pain I'll be feeling."

Which is admirable, even if it doesn't inspire confidence. So we know that Rizzo is still in a considerable amount of pain, so much so that he was pulled in the late innings of Game 1 despite being New York's best defensive option at first. According to Boone, Rizzo was "physically and emotionally spent", and there's clearly still some concern about managing the injury moving forward.

Rizzo is back in the lineup for Game 2, but he's hitting eighth, and things are starting to feel awfully tenuous here. It feels hard to fully trust the first baseman's availability over the course of a seven-game series, and if that's the case — or if the Yankees are simply getting a reduced version of him in the lineup — New York will once again have to deal with real concerns about the length of its lineup. The Yankees have gotten this far on the back of its pitching staff, a whole bunch of walks and some timely homers, but the overall offensive numbers are ugly (the team ranks last among postseason squads in average and slugging) and there are a lot of automatic outs behind Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge right now. Rizzo was thought to be a potential remedy for that problem, but that looks less clear now.