Former Reds' foe deserves far more criticism for Yankees' World Series blunder

The Cincinnati Reds don't see a lot of Anthony Rizzo anymore. A longtime first baseman for the Reds' NL Central Division rival, the Chicago Cubs, Rizzo was part of the sell-off on the North Side s few years back and has spent the past three-plus seasons in the Bronx.

The New York Yankees season ended on Wednesday night after an implosion during the fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a five-run deficit, and Rizzo was squarely in the mix of a game-altering play that could have tipped the scales in the Yankees favor.

But the former Cubs' star isn't catching near the amount of heat as his teammate Gerrit Cole. While it's true that Cole looks awful given that he didn't cover first base on a ground ball to Rizzo that could have stemmed the Dodgers' rally, the Yankees first baseman deserves far more criticism than he's receiving.

Former Reds' foe, Anthony Rizzo, deserves far more criticism for Yankees' World Series blunder

In case you missed it, in the top of the fifth inning with the Yankees on top 5-0, Cole induced a ground ball to the right side of the infield off the bat of Mookie Betts that should have ended the inning. Instead, Cole didn't cover the bag and Betts reached safely. The Dodgers scored five runs in the inning to tie the game and would go on to win by a final of 7-6.

Cole initially broke off the mound, but slowed up (and eventually stopped) once he saw Rizzo was in position field the ground ball. While it's difficult not to heap tons of blame onto the shoulders of Cole for not attempting to cover the bag, Rizzo's defense was questionable at best. Rizzo allows the ball to come to him rather than charging forward. The Yankees' infielder casually takes about three side-steps to his left before even plucking the ball off the dirt.

Again, it's difficult to overlook Cole's mistake, but far too many fans, experts, and pundits are failing to mention Rizzo's lack of effort. Cole said in a postgame interview that he took a bad angle to the ball and neither he nor Rizzo were in position to get first base in time.

Rizzo used to torch the Reds while playing for the Cubs, so the Cincinnati faithful are definitely happy he's no longer in the division. But ever since Rizzo left Chicago, he's failed to make an All-Star appearance, and the past two seasons has posted an 88 OPS+ and played in just 191games. Rizzo is a free agent this offseason, and after that display, there's a good chance he'll be looking for work elsewhere.

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