The Yankees add Anthony Rizzo and Marcus Stroman to the ALCS roster

NEW YORK – Four wins shy of their first World Series appearance since 2009, the New York Yankees have added veterans Anthony Rizzo and Marcus Stroman to their roster for the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Rizzo hasn't played since breaking the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand when hit by a pitch on Sept. 28, the second-to-last day of the regular season. He later said the typical recovery timeline was three to four weeks, but after ramping up his baseball activities over the weekend, Rizzo was in the starting lineup for Game 1 on Monday, playing first base and batting eighth – just 16 days after the injury .

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said team management was considering adding Rizzo to the roster by Sunday night. The team used a combination of Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.

“Yesterday I was pretty confident he was ready to go,” Boone said. “Coaches feel like he’s in a good position. I feel like just watching him defensively on the field, he looks very Anthony-like.”

Rizzo hasn't had to pitch live since suffering the injury, but he thought he was ready as he went through a series of drills on Saturday and woke up on Sunday feeling the same as he had the morning before. Doctors told Rizzo that he was in no danger of aggravating the injury; it's a question of pain tolerance.

He has had a brace made for his first baseman's glove and has additional padding for protection. He will also have more protection over his right batting glove.

Other than that, Rizzo said the only adjustment he'll likely make is sliding his right hand up.

“It’s just pain,” Rizzo said. “It's only temporary and the 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what's at stake will outweigh the pain I'll feel.”

The 35-year-old Rizzo had the worst offensive season of his career with a .228 batting average and a .637 OPS in 92 games, but the four-time Gold Glove winner is a defensive improvement at first base over Berti, who has never played that position had played professionally before the postseason and Cabrera, who had only five career starts at first base before October.

“I've had the opportunity to play a lot of postseason baseball throughout my career, and that's what you play for,” said Rizzo, who played on the Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series team. “The clock only ticks at my age. I'm getting older. You just never know when you'll ever have the opportunity to play for a pennant again. You can't take any of it for granted.”

As for Stroman, the Yankees decided a long reliever wasn't necessary for a five-game series with rest days after Game 1 and Game 2. However, the ALCS is a seven-game series with fewer days of rest, potentially putting more stress on bullpens, and Stroman gives the Yankees the opportunity to eat innings to spare high-leverage relievers from low-leverage situations.

“He definitely provides length down there,” Boone said. “But at the same time, you never know. You can find yourself in the biggest moment, in the biggest place in the series. It’s the playoffs.”

Stroman, 33, hasn't pitched since giving up six runs over 3⅓ innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 25. He's pitched just twice in the last month — 6⅓ innings total — and has had just one relief appearance this season . He finished the regular season with a 4.31 ERA over 154⅔ innings.

The two veterans replaced rookie first baseman Ben Rice and pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis from the ALDS squad, giving the Yankees 12 pitchers and 14 position players for the ALCS. Rice did not appear in any of the four ALDS games. Ellis entered Game 4 as a pinch runner.

The Guardians made one change from their ALDS roster for the ALCS, replacing infielder Angel Martinez with right-hander Pedro Avila to give them 13 pitchers and 13 position players.

Martinez had a narrow appearance in the Guardians' five-game NLDS game against the Detroit Tigers. Avila posted a 3.25 ERA in 50 relief appearances during the regular season.