Ben Rice Has Been the Perfect First Base Fill-in for the Yankees
With Anthony Rizzo on the shelf and struggling whenever he takes the field, Yankees young gun Ben Rice has come up and forced his way into their long-term plans.
In Ben Rice, the New York Yankees appear to have accidentally uncovered their first baseman of the future. A catcher by trade, Rice has been in the major leagues for a month and has played all but one of his innings at first base.
His path to the majors became clear once he recorded 21 extra-base hits and an .894 OPS through 49 games at Triple-A to start the year. A promotion became an inevitability once incumbent first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit the injured list following another freak injury (broken arm sustained in collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino).
In 27 games since his call-up, Rice has been well above-average at the dish and has held his own at first base. He played there quite a bit in the minor leagues, but to be thrust into the position on an every day basis at the game’s highest level is another situation entirely.
Thanks to a red-hot start to his big league career, it’s worth asking the question: is Rice the long-term answer at first base? It’s still early, but he’s building a case. Before we get too deep into his story, let’s look at Rizzo’s and see how we got here.
Anthony Rizzo Has Played Himself Off the Yankees
Rizzo first came over to the Bronx in 2021 as a mid-season trade acquisition. At the time, he was a rental piece, but he turned a strong 49-game showing into a two-year contract in free agency. He exercised an opt-out after the first year and eventually returned to the Yankees on another two-year contract.
Last year, Rizzo made it into just 99 games in what was a weird year for him. He was hitting .304 with 11 home runs on May 28 when he collided with Fernando Tatis Jr. during a pickoff attempt. In 46 games after that incident, Rizzo hit just .172 with one home run. His season officially ended on August 3.
In 70 games this year, Rizzo hit eight home runs with 28 RBI prior to the collision with Bernardino. He was hitting just .223 with a .630 OPS and 77 OPS+, all of which are well off the mark of where he usually is on offense.
His contract has a $17 million club option for next year with a $6 million buyout. Based off of the production the Yankees have gotten out of him over the past year-plus, it feels like Rizzo is not going to be back beyond this year. In fact, he’s on pace to return to the Yankees sometime in mid-August, but Rice’s emergence might lead to him not even making it to the end of the season on the active roster.
Ben Rice Is Stealing Anthony Rizzo’s Job
Okay, that might be a bit dramatic, but the young gun has looked sharp so far. Rice, the No. 12 Yankees prospect per Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton (and MLB Pipeline), has six home runs and 19 RBI through 27 games. He’s sporting a cool .767 OPS and 112 OPS+ (12% above league-average) while walking at a 13% clip.
Since his debut, Rice is second in the league in home runs amongst qualifying AL first basemen and is also third in RBI, two behind second-place Josh Naylor. His BB% tops the charts, too, but that’s hardly a surprise given the patience he’s always shown at the plate as a pro.
Defensively, Rice has 55 minor league appearances at first base versus 118 as a catcher. Behind the plate, his weak throwing arm has made a more permanent move to first the eventual outcome all along. He has yet to commit an error at first in 169 chances.
With Rizzo’s contract expiring and the Yankees still having a Jose Trevino-Austin Wells duo behind the dish, it doesn’t feel like Rice is going to be a big league catcher anytime soon.
And that is perfectly fine. Rice’s role so far has been to hit, hit, hit while gaining precious experience at a new(ish) position for him. Recently, he became the first Yankees rookie ever to hit three home runs in a single game. All things considered, this experiment seems to be going pretty well.
Closing Thoughts
The Yankees’ record sits at 59-42, good for second place in the AL East. They’re just two games behind the equally-dangerous Baltimore Orioles, but New York’s +101 run differential tops Baltimore’s by 10 runs. This is going to be a close race that won’t be decided until the last week of the season, you can just feel it.
The Yankees will need all the help they can get, on both the offensive and pitching side of things. With Rizzo representing a virtual black hole in the starting lineup, it’s time to give the young guys a shot. If Rice continues to hit well and play an ever-improving first base as well, give him the long leash. If anything, Rizzo can remain on hand as an oft-used bench bat with an extensive postseason track record.
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Eric Treuden (troy-din) has covered baseball for years for multiple different outlets including FanSided's news desk, Yardbarker, Wisconsin Sports Heroics, Reviewing the Brew and Call to…