This team is going down because of you.
The 2023 season is probably not one that Anthony Rizzo will have fondest memories of. He got off to a very hot start, putting up a .880 OPS with 11 home runs through May 28th. However, he slumped pretty hard after that, almost certainly because of something that happened on that May 28th end point.
That day, he was clearly shaken up after a collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. while covering first base after a pickoff throw. While he did miss a few days after that, Rizzo mostly tried to keep playing and proceeded to OPS .496 over the rest of the games he played. He was eventually shut down after it was discovered that the collision had given him a concussion — which watching the play in retrospect, yeah, no duh — and he was still dealing with after-effects from that.
Going into 2024, Rizzo appears to have bounced back and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that his struggles last year were just a blip from a freak accident. It’s just spring training, but he has hit fairly well in the exhibition season so far.
Should he stay healthy, it seems like there’s a really good chance this will become a more productive and memorable year for Rizzo. If that happens, there’s a chance he’ll set some personal milestones.
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