Ben Rice and Aaron Judge Are Outperforming Entire Teams in One Key Area

Ben Rice and Aaron Judge have been a two-man wrecking crew for the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) bumps elbows with right fielder Aaron Judge (99) after hitting two-run home run against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Globe Life Field. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

It's hard to imagine what the Orioles and Cade Povich were thinking when they decided to pitch around Paul Goldschmidt and face Ben Rice. It was there in the second inning that the New York Yankees won the game.

If it was about matchups, another lefty that inning, Trent Grisham, ripped a double in the previous at-bat that missed the short porch by a few feet. Whatever rationalization Povich and the O's may have had, Rice sent a hanging slider down the heart of the plate 380 feet into the right field seats.

Ben Rice just keeps on cooking 🍚 pic.twitter.com/xV7ZtJX6wj

— MLB (@MLB) May 1, 2026

It was a lefty on lefty crime, and the Orioles should have known better. Rice hits everybody.

The ball came off Rice's bat at 106.6 MPH and put the Yankees up 5-1. They never looked back from that point, because that lineup wasn't touching Will Warren.

Aaron Judge and Ben Rice vs. the World

That was Rice's 11th home run of the season. That put him a tick behind his Bomber mate, Aaron Judge, who has 12.

Not since Judge and Juan Soto, who later hightailed it to Flushing for Steve Cohen's money, have the Yankees seen this type of offensive showing between two players. It's the type of run that neither Judge nor Giancarlo Stanton has been able to get on at the same time outside of probably the conclusion of the 2021 season, where the two of them were sending home runs into cornfields.

New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) reacts with outfielder Aaron Judge (99) wafter hitting a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning for game two of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Rice and Judge's 23 home runs are actually more than three entire major league teams. The San Francisco Giants have 19. They have yet to crack the 20 home run mark collectively.

The Milwaukee Brewers have 22. Then, their AL East rivals, who recently fired Alex Cora in the hope of avoiding further sinking in the division, also have 22.

Judge and Rice are tied with the Miami Marlins, who have 23 home runs. There's a chance by the next Subway Series that the two of them could be on par with the New York Mets. Right now, they have 25, and a hot week can change that, with one of those home run barrages by Judge.

By now, the world isn't surprised that Judge is still a game wrecker with his bat. Some who don't follow the Yankees closely may be surprised Rice is doing this, but if you ask his manager, Aaron Boone, he always felt like the lefty bopper was always on that trajectory.

"We are continuing to see the evolution of one of the game's really outstanding hitters, as simple as that," Boone said, according to the New York Post's Bridget Reilly. "He's really disciplined. He's got a really good plan night in and night out for who he is facing and what he wants to look for, and then he does a really good job controlling the zone. So, this is kinda that trajectory he's been on since he first debuted. He's just gotten better and better to the point of now he's kinda been a wrecking ball."

Robin is crushing the Joker, too

If Rice is becoming a mini-Judge, clobbering the Orioles is one way to do it. In 68 plate appearances against the Orioles, he is hitting .317/.382/.783. He has eight homers, a double, and a triple.

Judge has hit .324/.460/.733 against them since his debut in 2016. He has 41 homers and 20 doubles.

The city of Baltimore probably wants a respite from homegrown Yankees. They've been a thorn in their side since Derek Jeter sent a ball over Tony Tarasco and some kid named Jeffrey Maier put out his hand to reel it in.