Anthony Rizzo Called Up By San Diego Padres
June 9, 2011 - 3:19 pm by Ryan Phillips
One of the most dominant prospects in all of baseball this year has been first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who became the property of the San Diego Padres as part of the Adrian Gonzalez deal. The first baseman’s meteoric rise has made him one of the game’s top prospects. Now Rizzo is set to make his big league debut.
Rizzo is just 21 years old, but has absolutely dominated at Triple-A Tucson this season. Rizzo is currently hitting .365 with 16 home runs and 63 RBI and 73 hits and a 1.159 OPS in 52 games. So yeah, kid has been raking.
The Padres have announced they will activate Rizzo before Thursday night’s game against the Washington Nationals and he will be in the starting lineup. Rizzo was in San Diego on Wednesday to get an MRI on his thumb and his hand checked out fine.
San Diego general manager Jed Hoyer had this to say about the conversation he had with manager Bud Black about bringing Rizzo to the big leagues:
“We started talking…if we brought him up for Interleague Play and put (Brad) Hawpe at DH and then played Anthony at first base…”
“Buddy was like…why not now?”
Problem solved, conversation over.
Hawpe has seen time in right field over the past few games and will likely continue to get starts out there while Rizzo is in the fold.
The corresponding move the Padres will execute to make room for Rizzo on the roster has not been announced yet, but the team is currently carrying three catchers, so we would assume Kyle Phillips will be sent back to Tucson.
One Response to “Anthony Rizzo Called Up By San Diego Padres”
If there is one thing that living in the Bay Area has taught me, it’s that the PCL is *not* a genuine reflection of the ability of young players.
Specifically of the ‘hot prospect’ variety.
PCL stats can only be used as an effective gauge for lesser known replacement players.
So, if Rizzo is hitting well in Tuscon, it can only mean that ‘we don’t know how he’ll do with the big club. Whereas if ‘Joe Blow’ is hitting well in Tuscon, it can only mean that ‘we believe that Joe will be a capable addition to the lineup.’
So you should totally adjust your expectations accordingly.
By Santa Claustrophobia on Jun 9, 2011