NEW YORK – Four wins removed from their first World Series appearance since 2009, the New York Yankees have named veterans Anthony Rizzo and Marcus Stroman to their roster for the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Rizzo has not played since breaking the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand when he was hit by a pitch on September 28, the penultimate day of the regular season. He later said the typical recovery schedule is three to four weeks, but after ramping up baseball activities this weekend, Rizzo was in the starting lineup for Monday’s Game 1, playing first base and batting eighth – just 16 days after he left had suffered an injury.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said team leadership was discussing adding Rizzo to the roster until Sunday evening. The team used a combination of Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.

“Yesterday he was adamant that he’s ready to go,” Boone said. “Coaches feel like he’s in a good spot. I’m excited to watch him on the field defensively, he looks very Anthony-like.”

Rizzo hasn’t experienced live pitching since his injury, but he said he believed he was ready when he went through a series of drills Saturday and woke up Sunday feeling the same as the morning before. Doctors have told Rizzo he is not at risk of worsening the injury; it’s a matter of pain tolerance.

He had a brace made for his first base glove and has extra padding for protection. He will also have more protection over his right batting glove.

Other than that, Rizzo said the only adjustment he’ll likely make is sliding up with his right hand.

“It’s just pain,” Rizzo said. “It’s temporary, and the 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what’s at stake will outweigh the pain I’ll feel.”

Rizzo, 35, had the worst offensive season of his career, hitting .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 has never played the position had played professionally before the postseason, and Cabrera, who had just five career starts at first base before October.

“I’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of postseason baseball throughout my career, and this is what you play for,” said Rizzo, who played on the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series team. “The clock is just ticking on my age. I’m getting older. You never know when you’ll ever get another chance to play for a pennant. You can’t take any of this for granted.” “

As for Stroman, the Yankees decided a long reliever wasn’t necessary for a five-game series with days off after Game 1 and Game 2. However, the ALCS is a seven-game series with fewer days off, potentially adding more stress . on bullpens, and Stroman gives the Yankees an option to eat up innings to spare high-leverage relievers from low-leverage situations.

“He definitely provides length for us down there,” Boone said. “But at the same time, you never know. You can find yourself in the biggest moment, in the biggest place of the series. It’s the playoffs.”

Stroman, 33, has not pitched since giving up six runs in 3⅓ innings against the Baltimore Orioles on September 25. He has pitched just twice in the past month (logging a total of 6⅓ innings) and has made just one relief appearance this season. . He finished the regular season with a 4.31 ERA over 154⅔ 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 did not appear in any of the four ALDS games. Ellis entered Game 4 as a pinch runner.

The Guardians made one change to their ALDS roster for the ALCS, replacing infielder Angel Martinez with right-hander Pedro Avila, giving 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.