The New York Yankees have a pretty big problem with Ben Rice.
Let me preface all of this by saying that Ben Rice has become one of the top hitters in all of baseball, and even though I predicted a big year from the New York Yankees slugger before the season began, even I wasn't expecting this.
Rice is slashing .288/.383/.607 with 22 home runs and 53 RBI over 311 plate appearances thus far in 2026. He owns a 1.017 OPS with runners in scoring position and he's bating .368 in high-leverage situations. He lays claim to a barrel rate of 14.8 percent and a hard-hit percentage of 46.4 percent.
Offensively, Rice is the real deal. I'm not sure he's a .300 hitter like we've been seeing much of the campaign, but make no mistake: this kid rakes.
His defense, on the other hand, is another story, and it's an elephant in the room that everyone wants to overlook (and for obvious reasons; his bat is invaluable).
Rice owns a minus-9 DRS a first base this season. If you like OAA better, he's at a minus-4. No matter how you slice it, he hasn't been good. In fact, he's been awful.
Not, to be fair to Rice, first base is not his natural position. He came up as a catcher ... except he wasn't good behind the plate either. If he were, trust me: he'd be there instead of Austin Wells and his .523 OPS.
With Giancarlo Stanton sidelined, Rice has been spending a lot of time at designated hitter with Paul Goldschmidt manning first base. And while Goldschmidt has turned back the clock at the dish, he isn't quite the same fielder he once was.
So once Stanton returns, what exactly will the Yankees do with Rice?
New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice. Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.Before any crazed fans say, "Just sit Stanton," that's nonsense. By now, you should know just how vital Stanton is in the lineup, and you know darn well you want him at the plate in October.
The most logical solution for the offense would be to boot Wells, put Rice behind the plate, keep Goldschmidt at first base and slide Stanton in as the DH. But Rice is a subpar defensive backstop, and he hasn't caught all year.
Is it time the Yankees start putting Rice behind the plate to get him ready for a potential role as starting catcher for the stretch run?
Goldschmidt has been so good that you really don't want to lose his bat, either. Is his success sustainable? It's debatable. The 38-year-old's metrics are all over the place, so it's hard to judge whether or not there is any luck involved here.
It's also worth noting that Goldschmidt faded significantly during the second half last year, but he also wasn't nearly as good prior to the All-Star break as he has been this season.
In a perfect world, all three of Rice, Stanton and Goldschmidt can co-exist in the same starting lineup, and you wouldn't have to deal with Wells' offensive ineptitude. So maybe that's the direction in which the Yankees should go.
Rice is going to be bad defensively no matter where you put him, so why not just sub out your worst hitter for him?
On the other side of the coin, though, Rice will surely wear down more quickly behind the plate, which could have a negative effect on his offense.
It's a conundrum, for sure, but in terms of offensive ceiling, the best solution would be benching Wells and making Rice your starting catcher.
Then again, if New York acquires Ryan Jeffers before the trade deadline, that changes things once again, doesn't it?
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