Yankees Slugger Replacing Giancarlo Stanton Receives Massively Bold Prediction

An incredibly bold prediction has been shared for the New York Yankees slugger tasked with replacing Giancarlo Stanton.

Mar 21, 2025; Lakeland, Florida, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (93) runs to first during the third inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees’ lineup suffered a massive blow early in spring training when it was revealed that Giancarlo Stanton was dealing with an injury.

Likened to tennis elbow by manager Aaron Boone, he was dealing with pain so excruciating that he hadn’t swung a bat for more than a month heading into camp. When no remedies were found, it became clear that their former MVP was going to begin the year on the sidelines.

Injuries have become synonymous with Stanton during his time in the Bronx. He played in 158 games during his first campaign with the franchise in 2018; since that point, he has missed at least 23 games every year.

The Yankees know that they will have to replace him in the lineup at some point; it is just a matter of when.

This year, it started right from the start.

In addition to the injuries to both of his elbows, he was also dealing with a calf ailment. But, recent updates provided are on the positive side, as the injuries don’t seem to be as severe as originally thought.

While Stanton is still going to be sidelined for a little bit of time, he will be back in the fold with more than enough time to ramp things up ahead of what the team hopes is another deep October run.

That is when he shines the brightest, performing at a high level in the postseason. His performance in last year’s playoffs is all the move impressive when taking into account that he was dealing with these elbow issues since last summer.

Getting him healthy as possible for the stretch run is a smart move by the organization, but other players are going to have to step up in his place.

The person who will likely receive the bulk of the designated hitter’s at-bats is Ben Rice.

His MLB debut in 2024 was far from stellar, producing a measly .171/.264/.349 slash line across 178 plate appearances. With a -0.4 WAR and 72 OPS+, he produced at a well below-average level.

However, there were some underlying stats that painted a more positive picture.

He managed to hit seven home runs with a 3.9% home run rate, well above the 3.0% MLB average. His walk rate of 11.2% was above average as well and when he made contact, it was hard with an average exit velocity of 90 mph.

This spring, the good eye at the plate and pop was on full display again.

Rice drew seven walks and hit five home runs and two doubles in 70 plate appearances. Once again, he was absolutely crushing the ball when making contact. There weren’t many players hitting the ball as hard as him in spring training.

All of those positives plays into the incredibly bold prediction that Chris Kirschner of The Athletic (subscription required) made for New York in a recent piece.

“With added muscle over the offseason, Ben Rice, the projected fill-in at designated hitter in place of Giancarlo Stanton, will hit at least 30 home runs and be in contention for making the American League All-Star Game,” he wrote.

A left-handed hitter playing half of his games at Yankee Stadium has more home run opportunities than most batters. Couple that with the improvements he made in the offseason and his prodigious power and the potential to be amongst the league leaders in long balls is there.