Struggling Anthony Rizzo after platinum sombrero: ‘I’m just not playing well’

Anthony Rizzo reached a new low on Sunday night when he struck out five times in the Yankees’ 9-3 loss to the Orioles.

“It’s not fun, obviously,” the first baseman said after his first platinum sombrero, “but the beauty of this game is you get to come in tomorrow and keep working.”

Rizzo was hardly alone in striking out, as the Yankees did so a season-high 18 times in the game. But “tomorrow” has rarely been kind to the veteran over the last two months, as he is slashing .168/.272/.224 with nine RBI over 44 games since June began.

He and the Yankees had hoped a corner had been turned on July 23 when Rizzo recorded a four-hit game and his first home run since May 20, but the lefty swinger is 2-for-21 (.095) since then.

“I’m just not playing well,” said Rizzo, who is hitting .244/.329/.381 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI overall. “It’s really frustrating on a personal level and just being a teammate. You want to do everything you can to help this team win, and you take it personal when you know you should be producing better than I am. At the end of the day, it makes you scratch your head a lot and it’s motivating to just keep going to work, and this game will test you.”

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Added Aaron Boone: “He’s struggling to find that consistency, and that’s what we gotta continue to work to find.”

Rizzo and the Yankees have insisted that he’s healthy. A freak collision with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. on a pickoff play banged Rizzo up and forced him to miss a few games with a stiff neck before June began.

Rizzo also said that he hasn’t been pressing; he learned a while ago that that “does no good” in this game. Rather, he’s trying to stay positive at the plate.

“It’s not really a confidence thing,” Rizzo said. “It’s just when you’re getting beat, it’s usually you’re beating yourself in this game, and I’m going through it right now and this is part of being a big leaguer and this is part of the journey.”

Rizzo didn’t dive into too many specifies, but he believes his issues are more mechanical. He said that he’s not putting himself in the best position to swing.

That was evident on Sunday, but Rizzo is hoping the worst is behind him.

“It’s fixable on one swing,” he said. “Really, that’s the game of baseball, that’s the beauty of it. But when you’re going through it, it’s not fun, but you got to take the small wins. Obviously, five punchouts in a game is very rare for me and in general. So hopefully that’s a turning point.”