Safe to say the Anthony Rizzo era is off to a strong start for the New York Yankees. Rizzo socked a long solo home run against the Miami Marlins in his Yankees debut Friday night. Then, on Saturday, Rizzo went deep again. Two games, two homers in pinstripes.
Here is Rizzo's second homer as a Yankee. It was a left-on-left shot he managed to keep fair in an eventual win (NYY 4, MIA 2).
Rizzo is only the seventh player in Yankees history to go deep in his first two games with the team. Here are the other six:
- Ji-Man Choi, 2017
- Aaron Judge, 2016
- Joe Lefebvre, 1980
- Dave Kingman, 1977 (homers in first three games as a Yankee)
- Graig Nettles, 1973
- Felipe Alou, 1971
In two games as a Yankee Rizzo is 4 for 5 with two walks and two home runs. According to Stathead's Katie Sharp, Rizzo is only the second player in franchise history to score at least five runs and drive in at least two runs in his first two games with the Yankees, joining Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.
Anthony Rizzo is the first player since at least 1901 to reach base 8+ times and score 5+ runs in his first two games with a new team.
— New York Yankees Stats (@nyyankeesstats) August 1, 2021
The Yankees acquired Rizzo from the Cubs, his longtime team, in a three-player trade Thursday, and they got him at the right time. Saturday's homer was Rizzo's fifth in his past six games. He was traded in the middle of a hot streak.
Javier Báez, Rizzo's longtime teammate with the Cubs, hit a home run in his first game with the Mets on Saturday.
