Ben Rice cleaning up in star-studded Yankees lineup
NEW YORK — Will Warren noticed Ben Rice‘s under-the-radar rise by means of skilled baseball firsthand after they have been drafted 4 rounds aside in 2021.
The New York Yankees‘ Right-hander watched Rice, then a full-time catcher out of Dartmouth, terrorize pitchers at each stage with out a lot fanfare till he reached the large leagues in June 2024. Last 12 months, he watched Rice crush baseballs to all fields, just for the outcomes to not absolutely mirror the method. So, what Warren and the remainder of the baseball world are seeing this season is not stunning.
“Ben Rice is averaging out right now,” Warren stated with a smile.
It is early, very early, however Rice is 12-for-37 with three dwelling runs, 11 RBIs and 11 walks by means of 11 video games because the Yankees’ main cleanup hitter. He’s among the many main league leaders in conventional metrics, reminiscent of on-base proportion and slugging proportion, and in trendy metrics, reminiscent of xwOBA and hard-hit proportion. He managed the Yankees’ solely hit Thursday as their offense scuffled in a second straight loss to the Athletics.
On a roster with costly stars, future Hall of Famers and hyped former prospects, Rice, 27, has emerged from relative obscurity to determine himself as one of the vital pivotal gamers on a World Series contender in simply his second full main league season.
“You’re starting to see what we saw last year where some of the balls he was hitting hard weren’t falling,” Yankees hitting coach James Rowson stated. “This year, he’s getting those hits. And then, it’s the experience he has from one more year in the league. He knows he belongs in this league, and it takes some time to get there. When you first get to this league, you’re trying to feel your way around it. But now, you watch him, he knows he can hit here. He knows he belongs here.”
Rice displayed his ability set throughout his first two seasons in the majors. As a rookie in 2024, he clubbed three dwelling runs on the Fourth of July at Yankee Stadium in opposition to his hometown Boston Red Soxthough he grew up a Yankee fan 20 miles from Fenway Park in Cohasset, Massachusetts.
His 2025 season was, by all accounts, a smashing success for a participant in his first full massive league marketing campaign. He swatted 26 dwelling runs with a .836 OPS and a 133 wRC+ in 138 video games, seizing his position because the every-day first baseman by the tip of the 12 months, with 12 dwelling runs and an .894 OPS after the All-Star break. But Rice and the group noticed the potential for extra.
“We had conversations, like, ‘Hey, the process throughout the year was really good, so there’s a lot to build on there so just try to continue that momentum,'” Rice stated.
Rice constantly hit the ball laborious and infrequently made poor swing selections. His Baseball Savant web page spouted MVP-level purple. The Yankees envisioned a star with some enchancment on the margins and higher luck. They envisioned what they’ve seen up to now in 2026.
“I think he started off continuing what he did last year,” stated Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidta former National League MVP who has assumed the position as Rice’s backup and is deployed principally in opposition to left-handed pitchers. “I think we saw it. He’s a smart hitter. He hits the ball hard. Controls the strike zone. Hits it to all parts of the field. Has good at-bats. Has a good plan up there. Basically, everything you’d want from a hitter. And he’s a guy that continues to work offensively, defensively. So, we can see him continue to improve this year and for years to come.”
Until this 12 months, stability had eluded Rice. COVID derailed his faculty expertise at Dartmouth. Matt Hyde, the Yankees’ northeast space scout, first found Rice not at an Ivy League matchup however in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in 2020, when it was the one collegiate summer season league working throughout COVID. Rice, taking part in for the Worcester Bravehearts, impressed Hyde together with his uncooked energy.
“I got to see a lot of Ben,” Hyde advised Buster Olney on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight Podcast” this week. “Back then, if the game was tied after nine innings, there’d be a home run hitting contest to determine who the winner of the game was. And Ben was always in the home run derby, so you always got to see the power.
“And I adopted him all the way in which to the championship recreation, and I’ll always remember him taking batting apply in the outdated stadium in Nashua, the place Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe performed again in the day. And it is surrounded by these big pine bushes, and he was hitting these huge dwelling runs in BP.”
The Ivy League didn’t hold fall baseball in 2020 or a spring season in 2021, but Rice helped start a pickup league at a baseball facility in Northborough, Massachusetts, that scouts attended. Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ director of amateur scouting, was living nearby and became a consistent presence.
“We known as it the Ben Rice League,” Hyde said.
That June, the Yankees drafted Rice as a catcher in the 12th round. Rice played twice a week in a farm system loaded with catching talent. He hit his way to the majors anyway, but the organizational logjam at the position forced him to learn first base on the fly as a rookie. Last year, he had to compete for playing time with Goldschmidt.
This season has been different. Rice reported to spring training, finally familiar with his surroundings and finally with a regular role as the team’s every-day first baseman.
“This 12 months, I used to be nonetheless coming into spring coaching seeking to enhance, prepare for the season and work laborious,” Rice said. “But I even have a peace of thoughts like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be on this workforce, and I’m going to play an every-day position to start out the 12 months, and I received to be prepared for that.'”
Last Friday, during the Yankees’ home opener against the Miami MarlinsRice displayed the blend of attributes — moxie, power, plate discipline, intelligence and confidence — that the Yankees believe will propel him to stardom.
It began with frustration when Rice struck out in his first plate look, failing to acknowledge {that a} known as third strike was a ball he might’ve challenged. So in his second plate look, he burned a problem on a slider that caught all strike zone earlier than putting out once more.
“That had to have played into it,” Rice stated. “Whether it was in my conscious mind or not, I remember going into the dugout after the first one that I didn’t challenge, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m pissed.'”
The anger continued in his third at-bat when he struck out swinging at a 3-2 splitter in the dust. Three at-bats, three strikeouts. It was shaping up to be a forgettable day. Then, one swing flipped the frustration.
In his fourth at-bat, Rice smashed a 110.9 mph rocket down the right-field line for a house run, releasing a scream towards his dugout on his technique to first base. An inning later, he concluded his day by swatting a 101.1 mph line drive off the highest of the wall in right-center subject for a two-run double.
“That shows you the next step,” Rowson stated. “He moved on to the next AB. When you see a guy have three tough at-bats to start a game, sometimes that’s where the game ends. And he showed you that he can still stick with it, bounce back, and have two at-bats that essentially put us in the spot to win the game. This is what he’s capable of.”
All offseason, because the Yankees retained gamers, a story was molded: The Yankees have been merely operating it again. With that, an assumption from the skin was shaped that the 2026 Yankees won’t be ok to win the World Series as a result of the 2025 Yankees weren’t ok. Time will inform whether or not the run-it-back Yanks are ok to win the franchise’s first championship since 2009 — up to now the bullpen has stumbled and the underside half of the lineup is not producing — however a part of their offseason equation was the approaching return of ace Gerrit Cole and the chance for enchancment from returns. Perhaps no person embodies that chance greater than Rice.
“Going back to last year, luck wasn’t necessarily on his side, but he didn’t deviate from anything, he didn’t change anything,” Warren stated. “He just kept going to work every day. I think that’s what’s great about this game. If you stay consistent in your work, there’s going to be highs and lows, but, for the most part, you’re going to average out. And this is what I’ve played with since I was drafted. It’s fun to watch.”
