New York Yankees up-and-coming slugger Ben Rice continues to be a baseball’s worst enemy this spring, boasting a .943 OPS with five home runs and nine RBI in 17 games.
The 25-year-old first baseman and catcher has the misfortune of playing positions that are already locked down by Paul Goldschmidt and Austin Wells respectively. However, Rice emphasized earlier this spring that he’ll play anywhere he can to get in the lineup – and there just so happens to be a spot up for grabs.
The Yankees march into the 2025 season without designated hitter and reigning ALCS MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, who was placed on the IL with severe injuries in both his elbows. After another solid performance on Friday, Rice appears to be the clear-cut frontrunner to take Stanton’s spot in the lineup and become the Opening Day DH.
Rice made his major league debut last season when Anthony Rizzo went down with an arm fracture. While his measly .171 batting average and .613 OPS (73 OPS+) were stats that fans of Apple TV’s Severance would classify as “scary numbers,” Rice flashed his sky-high potential by controlling the zone, working deep counts, and barrelling balls at an exceptional rate.
The lefty batter then took it up a notch. He spent his offseason in the weight room and showed up to training camp sporting an extra 10-15 pounds of pure muscle.
“It was a personal decision,” Rice said on Friday. “I felt like I had some room to fill out.”
Rice’s decision to bulk up has proven to be a total game-changer, as he’s hitting the ball harder and farther than ever before. Outfielder Cody Bellinger put it best on Thursday when he said that his teammate is “hitting the absolute s–t out of the ball.”
He currently paces the major leagues with seven balls hit 110 mph or higher. His second double on Friday night against the Detroit Tigers jumped off the bat at a scorching 113.8 mph. It was the hardest hit ball of his professional career, outdoing the 113.3 mph laser he crushed over the fence earlier this spring.
As noted by Greg Joyce of the New York Post, only 48 balls were hit at 113.8 mph or higher last season throughout the major leagues.
Rice has likely locked up the DH role after competing for the spot against eight-year vet Dominic Smith. The 29-year-old non-roster invitee proved to be a worthy competitor, boasting a .297 average and .857 OPS with three homers in 13 spring games.
But Smith’s odds of making the team were slim – the club has more lefty batters than they know what to do with. Riding the momentum of what Yankee manager Aaron Boone called a “really good” spring, Smith opted out of his Yankee contract on Friday and will likely enter free agency.
Rice has lofty expectations for the 2025 season, telling reporters last week that “I know I can produce at an elite level.” Now, it seems inevitable that he’ll get the chance to prove it.
