New York Yankees Slugger Making Strong Case for All-Star Consideration

A New York Yankees slugger has taken advantage of an opportunity, putting up All-Star caliber numbers.

Apr 17, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice (22) singles against the Tampa Bay Rays during the third inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees have run into a few issues with their pitching staff in the first month of the 2025 MLB regular season, but have done as good of a job as possible overcoming them with incredible offensive production.

The Yankees are second in the league with 4.45 runs per game, mashing to make up for their deficiencies on the mound. 

Leading the way is defending American League MVP Aaron Judge, who is off to another historic start. He is going to be in the mix for a third MVP award and Triple Crown with the scorching start he has gotten off to.

The anchor of the team’s success at the plate, there have been other contributors who are aiding him in producing at the plate.

One of those players is Ben Rice.

There is a chance he wouldn’t have even been on the Opening Day roster had designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton been healthy when the season began. Painful injuries to both elbows has kept him sidelined to this point, giving Rice an opportunity at regular playing time.

After struggling as a rookie in 2024, he is showcasing legitimate improvement at the plate during his sophomore campaign.

Last year, Rice had a -0.4 WAR across 178 plate apparances with a .171/.264/.349 slash line. The one positive is that he hit seven home runs for an above-average 3.9% home run rate.

This year, he has not only improved his home run rate to 6.0%, hitting six already in only 100 plate appearances, but he has taken a step overall with his production at the plate.

Rice has a .259/.370/.541 slash line with a 159 OPS+. That is a massive improvement over the 72 OPS+ he had last year.

That production has led to David Schoenfield of ESPN selecting the young Yankees slugger as a player to watch as an All-Star over the first month of the season.

It is certainly an attainable accolade with the hot start he has gotten off to, especially because the success will continue based on some of the elite advanced stats that he has produced.

His hard-hit rate of 60% is in the 98th percentile, per Baseball Savant. A barrel rate of 21.7% is in the 97th percentile. An average exit velocity of 94.8 mph and xwOBA of .425 are both in the 96th percentile.

What makes this start sustainable is his recognition of the strike zone.

Rice isn’t chasing pitches with an elite 18.4% chase rate. He has a strong walk rate of 13.0%, willing to work the count and wait for a pitch he can hit hard and drive. With a very good bat speed of 74.6 mph, success can be had long-term.

It is going to be a challenge for manager Aaron Boone to find playing time for all of his guys once the roster is healthy, but having too many productive players is a good problem for a team to need to figure out.