First baseman Anthony Rizzo and pitcher Marcus Stroman have returned to the New York Yankees’ roster for the ALCS, which begins on Monday night at Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Guardians.
Rizzo had been sidelined for the ALDS after suffering two fractured fingers during the final regular-season series. In his absence, the Yankees went with a platoon of Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti at first base.
The 35-year-old missed nearly two months of the 2024 season with a fractured forearm, which highlighted one of the worst years of his professional career. In 92 games, he batted .228 with a career-worst .637 OPS to go with eight home runs and 35 RBI.
Stroman was also left off the Yankees’ ALDS roster against the Kansas City Royals with manager Aaron Boone having a set stable of starters to choose from: Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt. Luis Gil also provides a No. 4 option that had been more reliable this season than Stroman, who went 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA.
He was moved to the bullpen down the stretch of the regular season and is expected to perform as a long reliever in the ALCS against Cleveland.
The Yankees removed Ben Rice and Duke Ellis from the roster in corresponding moves.
Yankees 2024 ALCS roster
- Starting pitchers: Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon, Carke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman
- Relief pitchers: Jake Cousins, Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Tim Mayza, Luke Weaver
- Catchers: Jose Trevino, Austin Wells
- Infielders: Jon Berti, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Volpe
- Outfielders: Jasson Dominguez, Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, Alex Verdugo
