Yankees' Ben Rice: Viewed as primary first baseman
Rotowire
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday that he views Rice as the team's primary first baseman next season, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
Rice split time between designated hitter (48 starts), first base (46 starts) and catcher (26 starts) in 2025, slashing .255/.337/.499 with 26 home runs across 530 regular-season plate appearances. Boone didn't rule out Rice serving as the team's No. 2 or No. 3 catcher in 2026, but most of the 26-year-old's playing time is expected to come at first base.
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.
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