The Yankees are giving Ben Rice’s bat a shot.
With Anthony Rizzo sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks, the Yankees are selling Rice to assist fill the void at first base, The Publish’s Joel Sherman reported.
Rice, a 25-year-old first base/catching prospect, is hitting .275 with 15 homers and 36 RBIs this season spanning Double-A and Triple-A.
He’s crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .333/.440/.619 slashline in 11 video games.
His promotion comes with the Yankees set to welcome the Orioles to The Bronx for a three-game showdown with big AL East ramifications starting Tuesday.
Within the aftermath of Rizzo’s harm, the Yankees must work out the right way to deal with first base for the foreseeable future and presumably longer.
In selling Rice, the Yankees seemingly are going for the upside play over simply re-arranging the prevailing items. It might have been simple for the Yankees to only shift D.J. LeMahieu — who’s struggling — to first base and use both Oswaldo Cabrera or once-touted prospect Oswaldo Peraza at third base.
As a substitute, it seems the Yankees wish to see if Rice can keep scorching at a place the place the Yankees have obtained little manufacturing this yr.
Yankees first basemen have produced a .642 OPS this season, the sixth-lowest mark in MLB.
Rice is the Yankees’ No. 12 prospect, in keeping with MLB.com, and has displayed robust offensive abilities since being chosen within the twelfth spherical of the 2021 draft.
He posted an .894 OPS in 49 video games with Double-A Somerset earlier than the Yankees promoted him to Triple-A, the place he didn’t cool off.
For his minors profession, Rice is slashing .284/.397/.523 with a .920 OPS, and has tallied 47 homers and 153 RBIs. He additionally has stolen 25 bases in 30 profession makes an attempt.
Rice has struck out a good quantity this yr — 56 occasions in 268 plate appearances (20.9 p.c) — however he may present a jolt to a Yankee lineup needing manufacturing outdoors of Juan Soto and Aaron Decide.
The lefty slugger may also play catcher, which may, in principle, assist the Yankees be extra aggressive with pinch hitting within the late innings, if wanted.
If Rice exhibits he can stick on the major-league degree, it may play a task in how the Yankees tackle first base on the commerce deadline.
