Yankees fans should believe Ben Rice’s breakout is for real this season
Yankees fans should believe Ben Rice’s breakout is for real this season initially appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
While the Major League Baseball season is solely simply underway, some clear storylines are forming for the 12 months.
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For the New York Yankeesthe largest storyline is the breakout of Ben Rice. He was already nice final season, however he is taking his play to a brand new stage in 2026.
Amid such a breakout, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch is calling for Yankees fans to believe this breakout is for real, and that Rice is a future All-Star, and a lefty-hitting counterpart to Aaron Judge on the best aspect of the plate.
Yankees fans should believe in Ben Rice’s breakout
“Yankees: Ben Rice is a future All-Star,” Hoch writes. “The next step in Rice’s development will come with increased opportunities against left-handed pitching.”
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Rice had a .255 batting common and an .836 OPS throughout 138 video games final season. It was an important 12 months, however there was room for enchancment.
And he is proven precisely that up to now in 2026. While it is solely been 20 video games, with restricted taking part in time towards lefty pitching, Rice has dominated this season.
He is at the moment hitting .339 with a ridiculous 1.242 OPS to start the season. While not a super-long sample-size, Rice’s manufacturing has been in depth sufficient to believe in.
More: Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece
He already has seven homers and 17 RBIs with six doubles this season, and might be headed in the direction of an elite season for the Yankees.
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But, there is one situation: his probabilities towards left-handed pitching. Aaron Boone has held Rice again from getting reps towards lefties, and whereas these likelihood is certain to come back in some unspecified time in the future, Yankees fans are operating out of persistence.
Rice, the 27-year-old slugger, appears to be like to be a future All-Star even when he isn’t taking part in each recreation as a starter. He’s among the best hitters in baseball this season, and his breakout is one Yankees fans should believe in. Rice is truly this good.
