Rice (hand) will start at first base and bat second in Friday's game versus the Brewers.
Rice missed each of the last four contests while recovering from a left hand contusion, but he's ready to go Friday as the Yankees begin a road trip. The 27-year-old leads all of baseball with a 1.214 OPS this season.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Remains out of lineup Thursday
Rotowire
Rice (hand) is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest against the Rangers.
The Yankees are facing a lefty in MacKenzie Gore, so it makes sense to give the left-handed-swinging Rice another day as he tries to overcome a left hand contusion. He'll aim to return to action Friday in Milwaukee. Paul Goldschmidt is getting another start at first base and will bat leadoff.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Not starting in series finale
Rotowire
Rice (hand) is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Orioles.
The Yankees will keep Rice on the bench for the series finale after he was removed in the fourth inning of Sunday's 11-3 win due to a left hand contusion, which he sustained while fielding a low pickoff throw. Paul Goldschmidt will draw the start at first base in place of Rice, who told Meredith Marakovits of YES Network that he doesn't expect to do much Monday other than receiving treatment for the hand injury. With that in mind, expect the Yankees to steer away from using Rice as a pinch hitter.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Leaves early with hand contusion
Rotowire
The Yankees announced that Rice was removed from Sunday's game against the Orioles due to a left hand contusion. He went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, a double and an additional run prior to his departure.
Paul Goldschmidt checked in for Rice at first base in the top of the fourth inning after Rice injured his hand while playing defense on a pickoff attempt an inning prior. X-rays on Rice's hand returned negative, but the bruise could still present enough pain to keep him from playing for a few days. The Yankees are listing Rice as day-to-day heading into Monday's series finale.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Suffers apparent injury
Rotowire
Rice was removed from Sunday's game against the Orioles due to an apparent injury, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
Rice started the scoring Sunday with a first-inning solo home run and doubled and scored in the third, but he was replaced in the field for the top of the fourth frame. The 27-year-old is presumably dealing with an injury, but the Yankees have yet to provide an official announcement on his status.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Goes deep in win
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in Friday's 7-2 win over the Orioles.
Rice broke the game open, giving the Yankees a 5-1 lead with a three-run blast in the second inning. He's posted four multi-hit efforts over his past eight games, with five going for extra bases in that span. It continued what has been an excellent start for the 27-year-old, who owns a .330/.441/.778 slash line with 11 homers, 26 RBI, 27 runs scored and a steal across 127 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Showing no signs of slowing down
Rotowire
Rice went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk against Texas in Monday's 4-2 victory.
Rice opened the scoring in the contest with a two-run blast to center field in the third inning. That gave him at least one RBI in three of his past four games and pushed him to 10 total homers, tied for fourth-most in MLB. After breaking out with an .836 OPS and 26 long balls during the regular season last year, Rice has been even better in the early going of the current campaign. He's slashing .322/.447/.744 and has complemented the 10 homers with 23 RBI, 26 runs and a stolen base through 114 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Blasts ninth homer
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in Friday's win over the Astros.
Rice entered Friday's contest having gone 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts over his previous three games, but he got back into the homer column Friday for his ninth long ball of the year. The 27-year-old has been one of the most productive players in baseball to begin 2026 with a .316/.450/.747 slash line, 20 RBI and 24 runs through 25 games.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Homer streak at three games
Rotowire
Rice went 1-for-3 with two walks and a solo home run in Saturday's 13-4 win over the Royals.
Kansas City tried to pitch around the red-hot slugger, but Rice got ahold of a Noah Cameron fastball in the third inning and drove it 398 feet into the second deck in right field. Rice has gone yard in three straight games, and on the season he's slashing .339/.468/.774 with six doubles, seven homers, 17 RBI and 19 runs in 20 contests.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Taking seat again vs. lefty
Rotowire
Rice is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Angels.
Rice will be idle for the second game in a row while the Angels send a second straight left-handed starter (Reid Detmers) to the hill. Platoon mate Paul Goldschmidt will fill in for Rice at first base and will bat leadoff.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Taking seat versus lefty
Rotowire
Rice is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Angels.
Lefty Yusei Kikuchi is on the bump for the Halos in Monday's series opener, marking the third time in four contests versus southpaws this season that the lefty-swinging Rice has been absent from the lineup. Paul Goldschmidt will hold down first base and bat leadoff for the Yankees.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Getting start against lefty
Rotowire
Rice is starting at first base and batting fifth in Thursday's game versus the Athletics.
Rice was not in the lineup the first time the Yankees faced a lefty earlier this season, but he's in there Thursday over the right-handed-hitting Paul Goldschmidt against southpaw Jeffrey Springs. Springs is not a hard thrower and has reverse splits in his career, and it's that type of lefty Rice is likely to get opportunities against.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Launches third homer
Rotowire
Rice went 1-for-2 with a three-run homer, three walks and an additional run scored in Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Marlins.
Rice put the Yankees ahead early with a 410-foot blast off Pete Fairbanks in the first inning. The first baseman has been on a tear to open the year, logging at least one hit in seven of his first eight games. Overall, Rice is 10-for-27 with seven extra-base hits (including three homers), 11 RBI and a 1.380 OPS through his first 36 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Goes deep again Friday
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double and three total RBI in an 8-2 win over Miami on Friday.
Rice logged most of his production late in the contest, cranking a solo homer to right field in the seventh inning and adding a two-run double in the eighth. The powerful first baseman is off to a great start this season, slashing .409/.500/.864 with two homers while leading the Yankees in both runs (seven) and RBI (eight). He's started six of New York's seven games so far, with one of those starts coming as the DH, and even with Paul Goldschmidt in the mix at first base, it seems likely that manager Aaron Boone will get Rice's bat in the lineup nearly every day.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Not facing lefty
Rotowire
Rice is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Giants.
After going 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored Wednesday, Rice will take a seat Friday afternoon against southpaw Robbie Ray. Paul Goldschmidt will draw the start at first base.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Powers Yankees in win
Rotowire
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: 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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Yankees' Ben Rice: Reaches 20-homer mark
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a triple and a walk in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Red Sox.
Rice tied the game at 1-1 with his second-inning homer. That was his 20th long ball of the year, four of which have come over his last nine games. In that span, he's gone 12-for-34 (.353) with 10 RBI and a 7:10 BB:K. This is an impressive stretch for Rice, who has largely struggled with consistency as a batter this year despite his steady power hitting. He's slashing .243/.338/.489 with 47 RBI, 55 runs scored, three stolen bases, three triples and 21 doubles across 107 contests.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Goes deep in win
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 6-2 victory against Minnesota.
The 26-year-old popped his first homer of the month with a 415-foot solo shot off Twins starter Zebby Matthews in the third. Rice, who continues to occupy a strong-side platoon role, is now slashing .235/.326/.463 with 17 home runs, 50 runs scored and 38 RBI in 372 total plate appearances. He picked up his 10th game started as a backstop in Monday's contest and likely now qualifies at catcher in many leagues.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Taking seat Monday
Rotowire
Rice is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.
He had started in four of the Yankees' last five games, but Rice will give way to Paul Goldschmidt at first base as New York opens a four-game set with Tampa Bay. Rice has gotten off to a slow start to the second half, recording four hits (one home run, two doubles) in 24 at-bats through his first nine games.
