Anthony Rizzo hitting (and getting hit) often for otherwise quiet Yankee lineup

Friday’s game between the Yankees and Blue Jays grew contentious in the top of the ninth inning when Greg Weissert hit Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a pitch.

The Toronto superstar admired a home run earlier in the Blue Jays’ win, but there was no real reason to believe the Yankees’ erratic righty plunked the slugger on purpose. Still, Guerrero stared the young pitcher down and slowly walked to first base. Anthony Rizzo took exception to that and let Guerrero know. Some jawing followed, but the incident never escalated beyond that.

“He’s not trying to hit him there. We’re not trying to hit him. Just play baseball. I’ve been hit many a times in this game,” said Rizzo, adding that he just wanted to defend Weissert. “Very rarely am I ever staring at someone when I know, absolutely, it’s not intentional at all.”

Indeed, Rizzo has been hit “many a times” – 205 to be exact. No active big leaguer has been plunked more, and the 33-year-old is eighth on the all-time list. Rizzo, who has already been hit four times this season entering Monday’s game against the Twins, recently surpassed former Phillies star Chase Utley.

The all-time record for HBPs is 287, held by Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings, whose career began before the 20th century. The same can be said for Dan McGann, who is seventh on the list with 230. “I’ve got some work to do,” Rizzo told the Daily News when asked if he even wants to keep climbing that ladder. Given the pain involved, it would be understandable if Rizzo wanted no part of that record.

But the first baseman takes pride in the way his body seemingly acts like a magnet for baseballs, something that’s been happening since Rizzo moved his stance closer to the plate during his early years with the Cubs.

“It’s just part of it. It’s part of my game. I can’t deny that,” said Rizzo, who set a personal high with 30 hit-by-pitches in 2015. “It’s not frustrating. You want to get on-base, so I don’t get too mad if I get hit.”

Of course, there are preferable methods for reaching base, and Rizzo has had no issue mixing those in throughout his career or in the early going of the 2023 season.

Rizzo’s .411 on-base percentage led qualified Yankees entering Monday, as did his .316 average, .566 slugging percentage, 174 OPS+, 24 hits and 43 total bases. Rizzo was tied for the team lead with 11 RBI, and his five home runs and 90 plate appearances ranked second.

Rizzo went deep late in Sunday’s loss to Toronto for the 1,500th hit of his career – and the Yankees’ only run of the game.

“He’s just been really impactful. He’s been getting on-base a ton. He’s obviously got some homers. He’s gotten some big hits. He’s such a presence in that three-hole,” Aaron Boone recently said. “It’s been encouraging to see the start he’s gotten off to. He’s really important to our lineup, especially from that left side.”

Boone has attributed Rizzo’s early-season success to a few factors, including good health. The manager added that the 13-year veteran, who’s dealt with back pain in the past, also found his stroke at the end of spring training. “He’s carried that right into the season,” Boone said, “but I know he’s feeling really well, too.”

Then there’s the matter of shift restrictions, one of a few new rules in the majors this season.

Rizzo faced shifts 82.6% of the time last year, which ranked 53rd in baseball. With a 78.7% contact rate and a 48.1% pull rate, he was the only everyday Yankee who saw shifts more than 80% of the time.

Already, the new limitations have benefited Rizzo’s stats here and there, as balls that were once outs have turned into hits. Boone also wondered what those few base knocks have done for Rizzo’s confidence.

“I think he has benefited from that. I can think of probably three or four hits that probably aren’t hits last year. So there’s that,” Boone said. “And what’s the effect of a guy rolling one through that you don’t really hit that hard your first at-bat? Is there an effect of that, to kind of settle you in? Like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of nice.’ Probably some, but impossible to measure.”

Whatever the reasons for Rizzo’s hot start, the Yankees are certainly grateful for it after he re-signed with the club in November.

The Bombers are missing the injured Giancarlo Stanton, and scoring has been hard to come by lately, apart from six- and nine-run outbursts on April 15 and 20, respectively. Entering Monday, the Yankees had scored less than four runs in eight of their last 10 games dating back to April 13, and they crossed the plate just five times during their three-game series against the Jays this past weekend.

Rizzo hit .351 with four longballs and five RBI – and two hit-by-pitches – over that 10-game stretch, but there have been days that he’s lacked the necessary help.

“We got to score more than we have here lately, but that’s part of it. We’re a little banged up, but we got to find ways,” Boone said. “We’ve done some really good situational, winning things when we’ve had those chances, but right now, we’re struggling to kind of roll those crooked ones up there.”