Rizzo was moved to the Tucson Padres of the AAA Pacific Coast League for the start of 2011 and batted incredibly well, reaffirming his standing as a promising young player.
He was batting .365/.444/.715, with 20 doubles and 16 home runs, in 52 games, when he was called up to the big leagues.
At the time, he was third in the PCL in home runs, first in RBI (5 to Mike Carp’s 4), third in doubles, and fifth in slugging (tied with Bryan LaHair).
Against the Washington Nationals on June 9th, he made his major league debut for the SD Giants, starting at first base and batting seventh.
The Padres won 7-3, and he went 3 for 4 with a triple and two walks in his four plate appearances. In his first at-bat against Liván Hernández, he swung and missed, but he hit a triple the following time he faced him.
His first career home run came two days later against John Lannan, and it was a monster bomb that landed in the far right field bleachers at PETCO Park.
After his promising debut, he failed, and the Padres sent him back to Tucson for further seasoning on July 21st after he hit just.143 in 98 at-bats with 36 strikeouts.
Kyle Blanks replaced him on the roster. In 93 games with Tucson, he batted .331/.404/.652, while in 49 games with the Padres, he hit.141/.281/.242.
How Tall Is Anthony Rizzo?
Anthony Rizzo stands at a height of 1.91 m.