How Yankees star Ben Rice leveled up into one of baseball's best power hitters
Rice this season is one of just five players with double-digit home runs -- and it's not even May yet
For the ninth time in their last 10 games, the New York Yankees were winners Monday, beating the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field (NY 4, TEX 2) in the first game of their three-game series. The Yankees have the American League's best record at 19-10 and their plus-49 run differential is far ahead of the second-place Detroit Tigers (plus-10).
"I'm just trying to keep him honest. Keep him motivated. He's getting a little complacent," Yankees first baseman Ben Rice joked about hitting back-to-back home runs with Aaron Judge in Monday's win (via MLB.com). "I don't know how long this is going to last, but I'm enjoying it right now, being this close."
In the third inning on Monday, Corey Seager whiffed on Trent Grisham's two-out ground ball with the bases empty, extending the inning and opening the door for Rice and Judge to hit their back-to-back home runs. It was Rice's 10th of the season and Judge's 11th. Judge, Rice, Yordan Alvarez, Munetaka Murakami, and James Wood are the only players with double-digit homers in the early going.
Judge and Rice are the third set of teammates in Yankees history to each hit 10-plus home runs in the team's first 30 games of a season. They joined some brand names: Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth in 1930 and Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in 1956. Judge's 11 home runs are his most ever before May 1, and the Yankees still have two more games to play in April.
As for Rice, he made his MLB debut in June 2024 and even had a three-homer game against the Boston Red Sox, but he finished that season with a .171/.264/.349 batting line and a 26.9% strikeout rate in 50 big-league games. As a poor defensive first baseman, that works out to minus-0.3 WAR. Like so many young players, Rice had a rough first stint in the show.
Giancarlo Stanton's dual elbow injuries last spring opened the door for Rice to begin the season as New York's DH and he capitalized, forcing his way into the everyday lineup even after Stanton returned. Rice slashed .255/.337/.499 with 26 home runs and a better than league average 18.9% strikeout rate in 138 games. That cemented his place as the club's full-time first baseman.
Rice, 27, has taken it to another level this season, hitting .322/.447/.744 with those 10 homers in 29 games. He ranks ninth among qualified hitters in batting average, second in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, and second with a 226 OPS+. Since the start of last season, Rice has been one of the very best hitters in baseball, truly.
"It's must-watch TV at this point, when he steps up to the plate," Judge said about Rice (via MLB.com). "Doesn't matter if nobody's on, guy on, tough situation. He's going to put something in play hard, or he's going to take his walk and pass the baton. It's impressive to watch and I get a front-row seat hitting right behind him now. It makes my job easy when he does that."
Rice is our All-April Team first baseman and his emergence is a key reason the Yankees weathered the loss of Juan Soto last year and are atop the AL standings one month into this year. Here's what you need to know about New York's homegrown slugger.
The under-the-hood numbers match the performance
As good as he was last year, Rice was a bit unlucky in 2025. His contact quality suggested he deserved better results. His gap between his .499 actual slugging percentage and .559 expected slugging percentage was one of the largest among qualified hitters, and he ranked 18th in hard outs (i.e. outs with 95 mph or better exit velocity) despite being 128th in plate appearances.
This year, the production has caught up to the under-the-hood numbers. Rice is blasting the ball and being rewarded for that contact. Here are his contact quality numbers, which are up a bit from last year, when they were already among the best in the game:
| Rice | MLB average | |
|---|---|---|
Average exit velocity | 95.7 mph (5th in MLB) | 89.2 mph |
Hard-hit rate | 64.5% (2nd) | 40.0% |
Barrel rate (what's this?) | 22.6% (5th) | 8.4% |
Rice is up there with Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani, and Kyle Schwarber in terms of hitting the ball hard. He's one of the best power hitters in baseball, period. It helps that he plays his home games in homer-friendly Yankee Stadium (especially for lefties), sure, but since the start of last season, Rice has 20 home runs at home and 16 on the road. That's not a big split at all.
"You saw the underlying numbers and knew it was just a matter of time for a guy like that," Judge said (via MLB.com). "For him to start off how he has and have that confidence and trust to say, 'Hey, I belong here, and I can do what I need to do at the highest level.' I can't wait to see what he does this year. It's going to be impressive. He's one of the best hitters in the game."
Offseason changes after 2024
Rice's breakout began back in 2023. He was a part-time catcher in Single-A in 2022, then broke out in 2023 with a .324/.434/.615 batting line at mostly Double-A. His 1.044 OPS was the highest among the 901 minor-leaguers with 300 plate appearances below the Triple-A level. Rice credited that 2023 breakout to a change in swing mechanics. From FanGraphs:
His adjustments since signing (after the draft) include simplifying his setup and stroke.
"Nothing crazy," Rice said when asked about his progression. "Maybe a little bit with how I was positioning my bat in my launch position. That was one thing, just making it a little flatter, giving myself a little more room for error by being more on plane with the baseball. That's just a small thing, though. I don't think too much about mechanics. When I do, that's when it starts to get a little funky."
Following his rough 2024 debut, Rice bulked up in the offseason and was noticeably bigger through his chest and arms when he reported to spring training in 2025. The results were immediate. He set a new career best in exit velocity seemingly every other day that spring, and it carried into the regular season. His contact skills suddenly came with more hard-hit ability.
"I think the ball's coming off the bat harder, for sure," Rice said last spring. "Putting more mass on the ball, so it's going to come off harder."
A major player development success story
Rice was not a high draft pick nor was he a touted prospect prior to 2023. The Yankees selected him in the 12th round in 2021 out of Dartmouth, where Rice played only 30 games in three years after the Ivy League canceled part of the 2020 season and the entire 2021 season due to the COVID pandemic. The Yankees saw enough from Rice to draft him anyway.
Here is the top of the MLB WAR leaderboard:
- Yordan Alvarez, Astros: 2.1 WAR
- Ben Rice, Yankees: 1.7 WAR
- Cam Schlittler, Yankees: 1.7 WAR
- Nico Hoerner, Cubs: 1.6 WAR
- Aaron Judge, Yankees: 1.5 WAR
Judge, Rice, and Schlittler are all homegrown Yankees who were drafted and developed by the team. Schlittler, like Rice, was not a premium draft pick. He was a seventh rounder out of Northeastern in 2022, and he owns a 2.70 ERA in 20 MLB starts dating back to last year. That doesn't include his dominant performance in Game 3 of last year's Wild Card Series.
New England is not exactly a baseball hotbed, yet the Yankees landed Rice and Schlittler in the later rounds and developed them into centerpiece players. Rice and Judge are as good as any 1-2 lineup punch in baseball and Schlittler is New York's No. 2 starter behind Max Fried. For a team often criticized for its lack of player development, Rice and Schlittler are major wins.
