Ben Rice has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball since the 2026 season got underway. The New York Yankees have an extremely left-handed-heavy roster, so finding matchups against tough southpaws is a priority. But not when it comes at the expense of Rice, right? Well, Aaron Boone baffled everyone when he sat the 27-year-old slugger against Reid Detmers, a lefty who owns reverse splits for his career.
Boone justified his decision by stating he wants to "cherry-pick" when to best deploy Rice to maximize his advantage. Fans questioned why not giving one of MLB's hottest hitters as many at-bats as possible wouldn't be maximizing his advantage.
Thankfully, the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals saw Rice playing against lefty starters. After the way he played, Boone will never be justified in sitting him against them again. On Saturday, he took Royals lefty Noah Cameron deep, and he followed that up on Sunday by going yard against southpaw Cole Ragans.
Boone should just say Rice is the Yankees starting 1B. Stop being so coy and tight-lipped. Level with the fans and the media. Stop treating us like idiots.
— That’s Baseball, Suzyn (@thats_bb_suzyn) April 19, 2026
MLB managers don’t play these games. You know who does? NFL coaches. That is not who we should be trying to replicate. https://t.co/XjQPM6MDFD
Now, fans want to know, will Boone come out and state the obvious? Can he simply name Rice the unquestioned starter at first base? He should, and it will make everyone better if he does.
Yankees embracing Ben Rice as everyday first baseman is best for Paul Goldschmidt, too
It's only been 20 plate appearances, but Rice is hitting .353/.450/.882 with three homers against left-handed pitching. His 1.332 OPS against lefties is actually higher than his 1.255 mark against righties. While he hasn't necessarily excelled against southpaws for his career, his .752 mark against them shows he's never been a total liability against them either.
Regularly scheduled programming 🍚 pic.twitter.com/NFj6SX4nOq
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 19, 2026
Brian Cashman indicated over the winter that he wanted to give Boone the ability to mix and match more. That thought process actually dates back to last year's trade deadline when Cashman went out and got Amed Rosario, Austin Slater, and Jose Caballero.
To a certain extent, that's been a good thing. Rosario's bat has been a breath of fresh air when he comes in and mashes lefties in place of Ryan McMahon. On the other end of the spectrum, Randal Grichuk has been a non-factor.
Somewhere in the middle of that matchup-based continuum is Paul Goldschmidt, the man Boone has been sitting Rice for. The 38-year-old has a long track record of tormenting lefties, and he's earned the Yankees' respect during his pinstriped tenure. While there is a sort of temptation to let the former MVP cook whenever there's a prime matchup for him, that might not be the best course of action, even if you take Rice's dominance out of the equation.
Last season, Goldschmidt got a lot of run over the season's first two months and hit an astounding .338/.394/.495, while racking up 232 plate appearances through May 31. However, the veteran quickly ran out of gas, slashing just .226/.277/.333 from June 1 through the end of the season.
Now 38 years old, Goldschmidt needs to save his bullets. He can still be an effective bat against lefties, but you'd prefer to have some of that efficacy intact once October rolls around. Rice playing every day conserves him now and ensures he'll be available and productive when it matters most. In the meantime, he can still get worked in every so often when Rice needs a breather, on days Rice catches, or when the DH spot is opened by a Giancarlo Stanton rest day.
Right now, Rice can truly do no wrong, unless it's calling for an ABS challenge, so the Yankees need to be leaning into that. It shouldn't be a hard concept to have your best nine players on the field every day, and it's getting to the point where it's impossible for Aaron Boone not to write his name on the lineup card.
