By Chris Kirschner

NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo’s struggles at the plate have lasted longer than a full calendar year. Since June 1, 2023, Rizzo’s .571 OPS is the third-worst in MLB among players with at least 400 plate appearances. Only Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez (.547) and Miami Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson (.523) are worse.

Rizzo had a clear reason for not hitting well in 2023 because he played two-plus months with post-concussion syndrome before the New York Yankees shut him down for the season. There isn’t a built-in excuse for his lack of production this season. Rizzo, manager Aaron Boone and hitting coach James Rowson have said numerous times how he’s healthy and past any concussion symptoms.

Rizzo is 1-for-29 in June with one walk, three strikeouts, six flyouts, six popouts and 13 groundouts. Boone benched the veteran first baseman for Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and is considering benching him for Monday’s game against the Kansas City Royals.

“I might give him (Monday), too. We’ll see,” Boone said before Sunday’s game. “We’ll get through (Sunday) and he and I will get together to come up with a plan.”

Rizzo’s .623 OPS this season is the fifth-worst for all MLB first basemen with at least 150 plate appearances. The lack of slug has been a noticeable problem. His .284 slugging percentage against starting pitching is the worst for any qualified hitter in MLB. His .321 slugging percentage against fastballs is the seventh-worst mark in MLB.

Over the past couple of weeks, both Boone and Rowson have said they have liked the behind-the-scenes work Rizzo has been doing in batting practice and film sessions. But that work hasn’t translated to the game.

“There’s no question over the last two, three weeks especially, it’s been a little bit of a struggle,” Boone said. “When you’re going through it and making little adjustments, they don’t always take right away. You go out there and, ‘Oh, that adjustment didn’t take right away.’ Maybe you revert back to something different. You break down some of the work, especially when you’ve been a successful player like Anthony has been throughout his career. It’s sometimes a process. Sometimes you have to get these small little gains along the way to get you where you need to go and sometimes being patient with that — which is hard when you’re going through it as a player — you got to have that (patience) a little bit.”

What’s also concerning about Rizzo’s play this season is there aren’t any encouraging metrics that suggest this is just a minor slump. He ranks in the bottom quartile for all players in xwOBA, wOBA, average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, sweet-spot rate and chase rate. He’s also lost a foot per second of sprint speed since 2022, which is normally an indicator of diminishing athleticism. Rizzo has also struggled against high-velocity pitching since 2022, hitting just .193 against pitches 95 mph or faster, the fourth-worst in MLB.

Boone was asked Saturday night if he felt like Rizzo was pressing to break out of his season-long struggles.

“He’s working really hard underneath to try and unlock himself,” Boone said. “Then all of a sudden you’re not getting results and it piles up a little bit. I do think he’s feeling that a little bit. That’s part of going through it. That’s part of the major-league season, even for really good players like Rizz. The work has been good. It’s just about continuing to trust in that and stick with that and hopefully we start to gain some traction.”

Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said Saturday night that Rizzo is “a little bit in his head” but felt like a hot streak was coming. Boone added that Rizzo is just a two-to-three-week stretch away from changing his season around. Rizzo’s best 15-game stretch of the season came from April 27 to May 14 when he posted a .986 OPS, but that was buoyed by two games where he posted a combined seven hits and two home runs. In the 22 games since May 14, Rizzo has a .365 OPS.

In Rizzo’s absence Sunday night, the Yankees are starting DJ LeMahieu at first base and Oswaldo Cabrera at third base. That may be the corner infield alignment on Monday, too. Boone said Rizzo was in a good headspace when asked how he’s handling his season.

“I think he’s handling it quite well,” Boone said. “With a lot of our guys and certainly Rizz, winning helps. Playing winning baseball and being a part of that is why you’re doing this. I think that helps. I sense he’s doing pretty well through it. I think he’s feeling it a little bit and I’m sure has thoughts. I’ve certainly been there, man, when you have a million thoughts you can take yourself to in private moments. I would say overall, I think he’s handling it quite well and has a good perspective on it.”