Anthony Rizzo

Anthony Rizzo

35-Year-Old First Baseman1B
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Rizzo is now a free agent as the Yankees declined his club option for the 2025 season. We can't blame them for doing so as Rizzo has hit .210/.291/.299 since that ill-fated collision with Fernando Tatis Jr at first base on May 28, 2023. Rizzo was hitting quite well before that incident, but has been a shell of his former self since that time. While he did hit 32 homers as recently as 2022, his indicators paint a dismal picture as only his strike zone judgement and contact abilities remain intact. What Rizzo does put into play is not of the same contact quality it once was unless he is jumping on a mistake pitch. It is tough to envision him recovering even a fraction of his former fantasy value unless he were to pull off some sort of 2021 Joey Votto performance. Rizzo would need the right park and a 100% clear head to pull off that feat, and it might just be that Rizzo may hang them up given how rapidly his numbers are plunging into the aging curve. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
From Preseason
$Signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Yankees in November of 2022. Contract includes $17 million team option ($6 million buyout) for 2025.
Club option declined
1BFree Agent  
November 2, 2024
The Yankees declined Rizzo's $17 million club option for 2025 on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
Rizzo slashed just .228/.301/.335 with 35 RBI across 375 regular-season plate appearances in 2024 -- his worst season at the plate since his rookie year with the Padres in 2011. Despite his significant drop in production, the 35-year-old first baseman should still be able to attract some attention in the open market, though he likely won't receive anything close to the $17 million average annual salary he'd been getting from New York.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
16
9
33
13
5
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
11
3
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+23%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+22%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .768 324 39 11 34 0 .257 .346 .423
Since 2022vs Right .718 1020 121 41 117 6 .223 .318 .401
2024vs Left .543 97 4 0 3 0 .221 .299 .244
2024vs Right .669 278 34 8 32 0 .231 .302 .367
2023vs Left .825 87 9 1 10 0 .333 .402 .423
2023vs Right .674 334 36 11 31 0 .220 .308 .366
2022vs Left .893 140 26 10 21 0 .233 .343 .550
2022vs Right .791 408 51 22 54 6 .220 .336 .455
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+22%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+21%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+45%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+6%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .801 696 90 32 86 3 .252 .349 .452
Since 2022Away .656 648 70 20 65 3 .209 .298 .358
2024Home .706 162 18 4 15 0 .254 .340 .366
2024Away .585 213 20 4 20 0 .210 .272 .313
2023Home .819 232 27 9 26 0 .288 .358 .462
2023Away .564 189 18 3 15 0 .188 .291 .273
2022Home .840 302 45 19 45 3 .222 .348 .492
2022Away .790 246 32 13 30 3 .225 .325 .465
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Anthony Rizzo compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.42
 
BB Rate
7.2%
 
K Rate
17.3%
 
BABIP
.259
 
ISO
.107
 
AVG
.228
 
OBP
.301
 
SLG
.335
 
OPS
.637
 
wOBA
.288
 
Exit Velocity
86.7 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
23.9%
 
Barrels/PA
2.9%
 
Expected BA
.240
 
Expected SLG
.340
 
Sprint Speed
20.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
43.8%
 
Line Drive %
21.5%
 
Fly Ball %
34.7%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Anthony Rizzo See More
MLB DFS Picks: DraftKings Plays and Strategy for Wednesday, October 30
46 days ago
Anthony Rizzo is a solid player to use in a utility slot in DraftKings MLB DFS Showdown slates tonight, writes Dan Marcus.
MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel Plays and Strategy for World Series Game 4 on Tuesday, October 29
47 days ago
Tuesday's top MLB DFS options on FanDuel include Shohei Ohtani as the Dodgers look to complete a World Series sweep over the Yankees.
MLB DFS: FanDuel Plays and Strategy for Monday, October 28
48 days ago
Monday's DraftKings World Series picks include Freddie Freeman who has the potential to bring in 1.5 times the points as the "Star" of your lineup.
MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel Plays and Strategy for World Series Game 2 on Saturday, October 26
50 days ago
Aaron Judge had a forgettable Game 1, but can he turn it around hitting against Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to be worthy of a FanDuel MVP pick?
MLB DFS Picks: FanDuel Plays and Strategy for World Series Game 1 on Friday, October 25
52 days ago
With the splits in his favor versus Jack Flaherty, Anthony Rizzo makes for a contrarian option for Friday FanDuel MLB DFS contests.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
Given that he missed the final two months of the 2023 season due to post-concussion syndrome, Rizzo's draft-day cost is going to vary widely from league to league in 2024. The concussion happened during an awkward collision with Fernando Tatis in May -- three months before Rizzo was actually placed on the IL -- and he later acknowledged that he was having trouble seeing the ball for much of the summer. That shows in his game logs, as he slashed just .170/.271/.224 with one home run in 188 plate appearances between the beginning of June and the end of July. He suffered through a five-strikeout game July 30 at Baltimore, a few days before mercifully being shut down. While it was an ugly ordeal, durability is usually one of Rizzo's best skills and he can hopefully put last year in the rearview with a reinvigorating kind of opportunity to feast in the heart of the Yankees' beefed-up batting order. He won't be a consensus top-150 pick again but could certainly return that kind of value.
Likely by design to take advantage of the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium, Rizzo hit flyballs at a career high 49% clip. It worked as he pulled 16 of his 32 long balls into the right field seats in the Bronx, though Rizzo's 18.4% strikeout rate was its highest since 2014. More flyballs helped sink Rizzo's BABIP to .216, the lowest mark of his career, though the resulting power fueled a 132 wRC+, his best since 2019. Rizzo's contact and hard-hit rates remain solid, but he's approaching the age where skills start to decline. He re-upped with the Yankees on a two-year deal with a buyout/club option for a third year, so the short porch will once again be a bullseye. The elephant in the room is Rizzo has been one of the most shifted players and with the new rules, he could benefit. A buying opportunity exists if the room is ignoring this, but it's unwise to anticipate a huge difference.
Rizzo had a second consecutive disappointing season, but this time it was a full six-month campaign. His strikeout rate was typically low, but his batted ball profile yielded a low HR/FB and low BABIP. His flyball rate increased, but it was mitigated by a low HR/FB, resulting in many flyball outs. Further, Rizzo's line drive rate declined, doing more damage to his BABIP. Rizzo's average exit velocity was a career-high, though his mark on flyballs dipped a bit, explaining the low HR/FB. It appears Rizzo's underlying metrics are still mostly intact; he just had a prolonged stretch of bad luck on batted balls. A batting average rebound is likely, though Rizzo may fall short of a full bounce back in power. The good news is, after two down seasons, the market has soured on Rizzo, so the cost of acquisition is significantly discounted.
When models of consistency do not perform to expected levels, it is always frustrating, whether it be when the erstwhile laptop does not boot up on first attempt or when Rizzo stinks out of nowhere. For the past five seasons, we've been able to bank a solid average, 25-plus homers and 90-plus RBI with a handful of steals as we build the rest of our roster around his stability. Prorating his 2020 numbers would have gotten the desired homers, but the run production was way down as most of the roster around him had issues, and his batting average was a career worst. We hadn't seen numbers this bad since his sophomore slump in 2012. Like many hitters, fastballs were a problem in 2020 for Rizzo as his average against them dropped 103 points from 2019 while his slugging fell 220 points. We must lean on the track record here rather than let 60 games outweigh the previous 600 games. Pending free agency is a big motivator; buy back in.
There's nothing particularly exciting or sexy about drafting Rizzo, but he's one of the most consistent run producers in the game. While 27 home runs don't look great in a record-setting home-run season, he maintained a sub-15% K-rate and boosted his BB%, resulting in an OBP over .400 for the first time in his career. In total, his offensive contributions added up to a 141 wRC+, which put him 13th among qualified hitters. He's not a barrel rate darling, but Rizzo had a .391 xwOBA (16th, min. 100 PA), and his xBA was even higher than his actual average. Only three players have driven in more runs than Rizzo over the last five seasons (Nolan Arenado, Edwin Encarnacion, Nelson Cruz), and he has not fallen short of 600 PA since his first year with the Cubs in 2012. Throw in 5-to-10 stolen bases -- nothing to sneeze at in today's game -- and you have a fine building block for any fantasy team.
Heading into last draft season, conventional wisdom suggested Rizzo's strong health and bankable power made him one of the safer early-round building blocks, but that narrative won't be quite as prevalent anymore. Rizzo wasn't a bust, but his 25 homers were disappointing after he hit 31 or 32 between 2014 and 2017. His 74 runs -- aided by a month-long stay in the leadoff spot -- were also 15 fewer than he recorded in any of the prior four years. Rizzo's nadir came in April, during which the Cubs played a schedule littered with rainouts and poor-weather games. As the weather heated up, so did Rizzo's bat, as he slashed .329/.420/.550 and supplied 13 of his homers after the break. Inclement early-season weather remains a potential issue, but Rizzo actually owns a higher career wRC+ in the first half (134) than the second (126). That offers hope that last year's early slump was anomalous.
Rizzo has been remarkably consistent over the past three seasons, but don't let the carbon-copy counting stats fool you into thinking he's completely plateaued as a player; there was some skill growth in 2017. He improved his strikeout and walk rates roughly three percentage points each way, lifting his BB/K to 1.01 -- his previous career high was 0.74 -- which was the fifth-best mark in baseball. Rizzo's .397 xwOBA, up from .368 in 2016, ranked 12th among 301 players with at least 250 at-bats. He added almost 50 points to his OPS against lefties and Rizzo hit for power at Wrigley Field (15 homers). There's no need to overthink this one; Rizzo is a rock solid second-round pick, and a case can be made that he should sneak inside the first.
Coming off consecutive 30-home-run seasons, Rizzo entered the year with lofty expectations and met them. He tied his career high of 32 big flies and set new career highs in RBI and batting average. While he was unable to replicate the 17 steals he put up in 2015, it now seems like a crazy anomaly considering he only has 19 steals over his five major league seasons excluding that season. Rizzo is clearly one of the league's better power hitters, finishing in the top 20 in slugging percentage each of the last three seasons. He's also a consistently disciplined hitter, taking at least 73 walks each of the last four seasons. At 27 years old, Rizzo is entering his prime and figures to be hitting in the middle of a potent lineup for years to come considering the plethora of young hitting talent the Cubs have. While he won't be the first fantasy pick, Rizzo won't last long on draft boards in 2017.
What do you want from your fantasy first baseman? How about 30 home runs, 90 runs, 90 RBI and 10 stolen bases? Or a slash line of .282/.387/.519? That's more or less what Rizzo has averaged the last two seasons, and he's just 26 and in the heart of a strong lineup. He's walked at least 70 times three years in a row, and his career-high 17 stolen bases last year was a pleasant surprise. Sure, Paul Goldschmidt does everything a bit better than Rizzo, but Goldschmidt does everything better than everybody. Rizzo might be the second first baseman off the board in fantasy drafts this year, and he should have his first 100-run/100-RBI season as long as he stays healthy.
Though the Cubs have a lot of young offensive talent, many of them with prodigious power, most struggle to get on base. Not so with Rizzo, who drew 73 walks last year and finished with a team-high .386 on-base percentage. Oh, and he also led the team in home runs, RBI, runs, slugging percentage, and OPS. Despite all the young players coming up at the ranks at seemingly every position, the Cubs don't have a can't-miss prospect at first base (the closest thing to it is Dan Vogelbach), meaning Rizzo's job is safe. Once those other young hitters start getting on base, expect the 25-year-old Rizzo to start racking up 100-RBI seasons.
On a team without many offensive bright spots, Rizzo has to qualify as such. Now just 24, Rizzo already has 39 home runs under his belt as he set career highs in pretty much every counting category in 2013. Unfortunately, with the increase in playing time came a serious decrease in his slash line: .233/.323/.419 is just not going to cut it for the offensive leader of any team, but the numbers are even more glaring at a position like first base. His 76:127 BB:K ratio isn't bad for a slugger, but the .259 BABIP just crushed him last year. Expect his numbers to bounce back as the BABIP normalizes and he continues his growth. Otherwise, it could be another long season at Wrigley.
After annihilating Triple-A for a couple months, Rizzo got the call to the bigs and posted a .900-plus OPS in June and July. An August slump was mitigated by a solid September, and it looks like Rizzo could be the team's first baseman for the next half-decade or more. Rizzo could stand to take a few more walks, but his contact rate was good for a 22-year-old home-run hitter in the majors, and there's little doubt about his power. It's likely a question of when not if with this future star, and he should be locked into the No. 3 spot in the Cubs' lineup after settling in there upon arrival and delivering a .820 OPS last season.
Rizzo was the biggest chip coming back to the Padres in the Adrian Gonzalez deal and was considered to be the team's first baseman of the future. He possess tremendous raw power, great bat speed, and exhibits quality patience at the plate. After hitting .331/.404/.652 with 26 home runs at Triple-A over just 413 plate appearances, the Padres brought him up to the majors. To say that his cup of coffee with the team was anything but cold and bitter would be an understatement. Over 153 plate appearances in the show, Rizzo hit just one home run and posted a woeful .281 OBP despite a solid 13.7 percent walk rate. His 70 percent contact rate was brutal, and it had many experts wondering how much of his minor league totals were inflated by the hitter-friendly parks in the PCL, not to mention how Petco stifling left-handed power would translate to his overall production. However, Rizzo caught a break this winter as he was dealt to the Cubs, a far better hitting environment in which to operate. Rizzo will likely begin the season at Triple-A, as the Cubs give veteran minor league Bryan LaHair a shot. But a strong showing from Rizzo there could see him up in the majors at any point this season, especially if LaHair struggles.
Rizzo emerged over the past two seasons as Boston's top power prospect, a view that was cemented with 25-homer season between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland in 2010. He became the first 20-year-old to hit 20 homers in the Double-A Eastern League since 1998. His development since overcoming Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2008 is remarkable and made him a valuable prospect, eventually landing him in Boston's deal with San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez. He has a good approach at the plate, though he could work deeper counts, and is ready as a defender at first base. He's viewed as a high-character guy and good teammate, and appears headed to become the Padres' everyday first baseman in 2012.
More Fantasy News
Downtime helping injured fingers
1BNew York Yankees  
October 23, 2024
Rizzo said Wednesday that the time off between the ALCS and World Series has allowed swelling in his fractured fingers to subside, Greg Joyce of the New York Post reports.
ANALYSIS
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Absent from Game 3 lineup
1BNew York Yankees  
October 17, 2024
Rizzo is not in the lineup Thursday for Game 3 of the ALCS in Cleveland.
ANALYSIS
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Should start again in Game 2
1BNew York Yankees  
October 14, 2024
Rizzo fared well in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Guardians and is expected to be in the starting lineup Tuesday for Game 2, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Starting at first base in Game 1
1BNew York Yankees  
October 14, 2024
Rizzo will start at first base and bat eighth Monday in Game 1 of the ALCS versus the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Included on ALCS roster
1BNew York Yankees  
October 14, 2024
Rizzo (fingers) is on the Yankees' roster for the ALCS against the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Reunion with Yankees?
1BFree Agent  
November 4, 2024
Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News "wouldn't be stunned" if Rizzo re-signs with the Yankees after the club declined his $17 million team option for 2025 on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
New York paid the $6 million buyout rather than bringing him back at that salary, which wasn't a surprise since he was limited to 92 regular-season games in 2024 and had a .228/.301/.335 slash line. Rizzo said in September that he hopes to retire with the Yankees, but the organization is undoubtedly looking for an upgrade at first base this winter, and it's unclear if the 35-year-old is willing to take on a bench role.
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