Yankees roll with versatile infielder as Game 1 first baseman

Today at 02:39 PM

With the injury to Anthony Rizzo, the New York Yankees had to get creative with who they would roll with as their first baseman. Ben Rice and Oswaldo Cabrera are the two main first basemen on their 26-man roster, and for Game 1 of the ALDS, the Bronx Bombers will roll with the versatile switch-hitter. Across 109 games, he posted an 88 wRC+ with eight home runs but doesn’t have a ton of Major League experience at the position. Since being promoted in 2022, he has accumulated just 71.2 innings at first, but his strong finish to the season definitely played a factor here.

Over his last 49 games, Cabrera has a 110 wRC+ and a +4 Run-Value against changeups, which is Michael Wacha’s signature pitch.

Oswaldo Cabrera Gets the Start At First Base For the Yankees

The Yankees are playing to matchups here, as Oswaldo Cabrera has a 107 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this season. He seems to be far more comfortable from the left-handed side of the plate, with a 103 wRC+ and 18.7% strikeout rate when he hits from that side. He has a higher wRC+ against LHP as a left-handed hitter than he does as a right-handed hitter this year as well, and Michael Wacha could be the ideal matchup for him.

Against changeups, Cabrera has a .341 wOBA and 20.7% Whiff Rate, and against four-seamers, he has a .371 wOBA and 18.9% Whiff Rate. The pitches that he struggles with the most are sliders, a pitch that Wacha doesn’t feature heavily in his repertoire. Defensively, there’s not nearly enough data to conclude that Cabrera is a good or bad first baseman defensively, with 0 DRS, 0 OAA, and a 0.3 UZR at the position.

In five trips to the plate against Michael Wacha, Oswaldo Cabrera is 0-4 with a walk, but it’s a very small sample size that doesn’t indicate much about how he would perform. Ben Rice is on the bench to start this game, but Aaron Boone seemed more than willing to utilize him in the starting lineup in the media availability sessions throughout the week leading up to today.

Perhaps the Yankees have Ben Rice start against Cole Ragans on Monday, as the left-hander has a .320 wOBA allowed against left-handed batters and Cabrera is far worse against left-handed changeups than he is against right-handed ones in his career. It’ll be interesting to follow how the Yankees operate at first base in Anthony Rizzo’s absence, as he’ll miss at least the ALDS with a finger fracture he suffered on the second-to-last day of the regular season.