Anthony Rizzo sat out yesterday’s game to rest his back, which opened up a start for Victor Caratini, who ultimately played hero. All’s well that ends well.
Er, well, assuming Rizzo is not dealing with a serious injury, that is.
“It grabbed on me pretty good [early in the game Saturday night] and I just had to deal with it the whole game and it gradually got worse,” Rizzo told Cubs.com yesterday. “[Sunday] morning, it felt really bad but we worked on it and it’s really loosened up. I’m in a lot better place now than I was this morning.”
Rizzo has dealt with back issues before, periodically missing a game or two here or there, and one time missing several weeks back in 2014. Often, he comes back right away with out, particularly when – as in this case – he’s had two straight days off.
Rizzo is hopeful he can be back tomorrow, but Joe Maddon just doesn’t feel the need to push things right now. If that means an additional day of rest for Rizzo beyond today, then so be it.