Rice is not in the lineup Wednesday for Game 4 of the ALDS versus the Blue Jays.
The Yankees are turning to Paul Goldschmidt at first base as the Blue Jays go with a bullpen game. Rice is 4-for-18 with one home run, four RBI and a 1:8 BB:K across five games this postseason.
Rice will start at first base and bat fifth Thursday in Game 3 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
The left-handed-hitting Rice usually yields to Paul Goldschmidt at first base versus left-handed pitching. However, after going 2-for-4 with a home run in Game 2, Rice will draw another start at the position as the Red Sox send southpaw Connelly Early to the mound.
Rice is not in the lineup Tuesday for Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees.
With tough southpaw Garrett Crochet toeing the rubber for the Red Sox, the left-handed-hitting Rice will begin the contest on the bench. It will be Paul Goldschmidt at first base and Austin Wells doing the catching for the Yankees.
Yankees' Ben Rice: Powers Yanks with pair of homers
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Orioles.
Rice was a majority of the Yankees' offense Sunday as he took Kyle Bradish deep in the first inning to open the scoring before launching another long ball in the eighth that gave New York a late lead for good. The performance marked Rice's second multi-homer game of the season and pushed his total to 26 on the year. The 26-year-old wraps up the year with a respectable .255/.337/.499 slash line alongside 28 doubles, 65 RBI and 74 runs scored across 528 plate appearances.
Rice is not in the lineup for Friday's contest versus the Orioles.
After five consecutive starts, Rice will take a seat in Friday's series opener. The Yankees will roll with Paul Goldschmidt at first base and Austin Wells at catcher.
Rice went 4-for-5 with a grand slam, a double and five total RBI in Sunday's 7-1 win over the Orioles in 10 innings.
Rice got the Yankees on the board in the sixth inning with a two-out RBI single, tying the game at 1-1, before delivering the decisive blast in the 10th inning, a 413-foot grand slam off lefty Keegan Akin to put New York ahead 5-1. Rice had just one home run in his last 20 games prior to Sunday, though he's gone 14-for-33 (.424) over his last 10 contests. Overall, Rice is slashing .252/.335/.488 with 24 homers, 62 RBI and 69 runs scored across 510 plate appearances this season.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Sitting Monday
Rotowire
Rice is not in the Yankees' starting lineup against the Twins on Monday.
Even with the Twins sending right-hander Simeon Woods-Richardson to the mound, the lefty-hitting Rice will be on the bench for the beginning of Monday's game while veteran Paul Goldschmidt starts at first base and bats sixth. Rice has collected at least one hit in each of last four games, going 6-for-14 (.429 average) with four doubles and two RBI over that span.
Rice went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 11-2 win over the Nationals.
The Yankees launched six homers in total on the afternoon, with Rice's coming off Shinnosuke Ogasawara as part of a nine-run third inning -- only his sixth long ball of the season off a left-hander, compared to 16 off righties. Rice has bashed his way into a strong-side platoon role for New York as he splits his time between first base and catcher, and over his last 10 games he's batting .353 (12-for-34) with a double, a triple, five homers, eight runs and 11 RBI.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Launches 21st long ball
Rotowire
Rice went 1-for-3 with a solo homer, two walks and an additional run scored in Monday's 10-5 win versus Washington.
The New York slugger garnered the start at catcher and pushed his team's lead to 2-0 with a titanic 435-foot solo shot off Nationals starter Brad Lord in the third. Rice has entered the conversation as one of the best fantasy backstops, as he's batted .290 (20-for-69) with five homers, 13 RBI, eight runs scored and a 12:15 BB:K in 21 games this month. Across 423 total plate appearances, the Dartmouth product is now slashing .241/.339/.488 with 57 runs scored and 48 RBI.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Out of lineup Saturday
Rotowire
Rice isn't starting Saturday's game against the Red Sox, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Rice has become a mainstay in New York's lineup in August, and he entered the weekend having started at either catcher or first base in each of the team's past 15 contests. However, he'll give way behind the plate to Austin Wells on Saturday while Paul Goldschmidt mans first base. Rice's day off isn't performance-related, as he posted a 1.018 OPS with four home runs and 12 RBI during the aforementioned 15-game stretch.
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