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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Four wins shy of their first World Series appearance since 2009, the New York Yankees included veterans Anthony Rizzo and Marcus Stroman on their roster for the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Rizzo hasn’t played since fracturing his right hand’s fourth and fifth fingers when he was hit by a pitch on Sept. 28, the penultimate day of the regular season. He later said the typical recovery timetable is three to four weeks, but after ramping up baseball activities over the weekend, Rizzo will be active for Monday’s Game 1 — just 16 days after suffering the injury.
Rizzo on Sunday faced live pitching during the team’s workout at Yankee Stadium. Whether he starts Game 1 is unclear; the Yankees could decide to give him more time to recover before using him later in the series. The team used a combination of Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.
Rizzo, 35, had the worst offensive season of his career, batting .228 with a .637 OPS in 92 games, but the four-time Gold Glove winner is a defensive upgrade at first base over Berti, who had never played the position professionally before the postseason, and Cabrera, who had just five career starts at first base before October.
Stroman is expected serve as a long man out of the Yankees’ bullpen after being left off the ALDS roster. The Yankees decided a long reliever wasn’t necessary for a five-game series with off-days after Game 1 and Game 2. The ALCS, however, is a seven-game series with fewer off-days, potentially placing more stress on bullpens, and Stroman gives the Yankees an option to eat innings in a blowout or extra-inning game.
Stroman, 33, hasn’t pitched since giving up six runs over 3 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 25. He’s pitched just twice — logging 6 1/3 total innings — over the last month and he has just one relief appearance this season. He finished the regular season with a 4.31 ERA over 154 2/3 innings.
The two veterans replaced rookie first baseman Ben Rice and pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis from the ALDS roster, giving the Yankees 12 pitchers and 14 position players for the ALCS. Rice didn’t 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 one pinch-hit appearance in the Guardians’ five-game NLDS against the Detroit Tigers. Avila posted a 3.25 ERA in 50 relief appearances during the regular season.