Ben Rice is everything Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells were supposed to be for Yankees

The New York Yankees have been known to hoard prospects in recent years, hoping to develop their next wave of stars while occasionally (more often than many would like) holding onto some well past their expiration date. At the same time, sometimes a mid-tier prospect comes out of nowhere to blossom into a star-level player, and that's exactly what the Yankees are seeing now with Ben Rice.

It wasn't supposed to be Rice who became the next generation of elite Yankee homegrown talent. That honor was supposed to fall on the shoulders of Anthony Volpe (and Austin Wells). Volpe topped out as MLB.com's No. 5 overall prospect back in 2023, with scouts raving about his intangibles as much as his physical tools.

Wells, on the other hand, didn't reach the same lofty heights. That said, the catcher still landed No. 5 on the Yankees' top prospect list entering the 2024 season, with his offensive prowess being touted as special for a backstop.

Yet, here we are in year three for Volpe and the second season of at least somewhat regular playing time for Wells, and instead it's Rice, a former mid-tier prospect in a mid-tier system, who is stealing the show.

Ben Rice is everything the Yankees were hoping to get out of Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells

Volpe is the reason Yankees fans had to suffer through Isiah Kiner-Falefa as the starting shortstop, and the reason why the club passed on moves to acquire superstars to man the position, such as Trea Turner, Corey Seager, Dansby Swanson, and others.

After three years, a career wRC+ of 85, and a timid way of playing defense that has led to an enormous amount of errors and gaffes, the Yankees have to be kicking themselves for pushing all their chips in on Volpe, even though they'll never admit it publicly.

Meanwhile, after showing some promise despite some struggles in timeshare with Jose Trevino behind the plate in 2024, Wells has regressed substantially in 2025 to the tune of a .221/.277/.442 line. His walk rate has been nearly cut in half from a season ago, and aside from the occasional dinger he's produced little at the plate offensively.

Rice, on the other hand, did nothing but hit throughout the majority of his minor league career. Despite that, the former 12th-round pick out of Dartmouth's production was mostly met with a hand wave as he was older than the majority of the competition he faced throughout his stops while advancing through the farm system.

Now, though, with the virtue of semi-regular playing time in the bigs, he's emerging as a star and is everything the Bombers were hoping to get out of Volpe and Wells.

With a .254/.337/.489 line and 24 homers, Rice has been 28% better than a league-average hitter based on his results. With elite underlying metrics, such as a 98th percentile hard hit rate, a 93rd percentile barrel rate, and a 90th percentile chase rate, Rice's power and patience suggest he should be even better, as his .407 xwOBA shows compared to his actual mark of .354 (which is still very good).

He's also shown the ability to come through big in the clutch, as evidenced by his dramatic extra-inning grand slam to seal the win against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Even the rigors of catching, something Rice has done now 37 times this season, haven't slowed him down with an .895 OPS when playing behind the plate. That has lef to some questions as to whether or not he should supplant Wells as the everyday catcher in 2026.

Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good, as Yankees talent evaluators are finding that out now. Their two prospect gems are floundering, but on the other hand they look like geniuses for finding a diamond in the rough in Rice, who topped out ranking just one spot ahead of the recently departed Clayton Beeter on the Yankees' prospect rankings.