Ben Rice could play a prominent role for the New York Yankees this season.
The Bronx Bombers returned to the field Tuesday after their Monday matchup against the Boston Red Sox was spoiled by the Florida weather. Taking on the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, the Yanks lost 5-4 by way of a walkoff single from DaShawn Keirsey Jr.
Rice – who made his major league debut last season – bulked up over the winter and entered training camp with an additional ten pounds of muscle. Speaking with reporters on Monday, he noted that he’s already feeling more power in his swing.
“I think the ball’s coming off the bat harder, for sure,” Rice said (h/t New York Post). “Putting more mass on the ball, so it’s going to come off harder.”
He wasn’t lying. Leading off Tuesday’s contest against the Twins, the 26-year-old ripped a 111.1 mph single; it was the hardest-hit ball of his career. He followed it up with another whizzing single (99.5 mph) that drove in a run, finishing the game going 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Rice appeared in 50 games with New York last season, where he hit .171 with a .613 OPS and seven homers. While his traditional stat line wasn’t exactly eye-catching, the underlying metrics painted a much prettier picture. He boasted an exceptional barrel rate (15.6%), low chase rate (20.6%), and high walk rate (11.2%).
He also flexed his light-tower power, particularly when he clobbered three home runs in a single game against the Red Sox.
The lefty batter was called up last June to fill in at first base after Anthony Rizzo went down with an arm fracture. This spring, he’s been taking reps behind the dish as the club looks to identify a suitable backup catcher.
“It’s wherever I can get in the lineup,” Rice said. “If it’s catching, I’m all for it. If it’s at first base, I’m all for it.”
Rice provides essential depth at both positions behind first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and catcher Austin Wells. Meanwhile, the team remains unsure when Giancarlo Stanton will make his return to the lineup. With the added muscle, Rice could find himself filling the designated hitter role early in the season.
Rice wasn’t the only Yankee that had a solid showing on Tuesday. Outfield prospect Everson Pereira launched a solo shot to right-center field in the top of the second inning and eight-year-veteran Dominic Smith hit a two-run bomb in the fifth.
Spencer Jones, one of the club’s most promising prospects, came just short of joining the home run party and hitting his second dinger of the spring; he crushed a 394-foot double in the fourth inning that would have been a homer in 18/30 MLB ballparks. Twenty-year-old shortstop prospect Roderick Arias went 2-2 with a double and a run scored.
The Yankees return to George M. Steinbrenner Field tomorrow afternoon (1:05 p.m. ET), where they will welcome the St. Louis Cardinals. Viewers at home can catch the action on the YES Network.
