Erik Boland: Yankees' Ben Rice cooks against lefty after Boone shows confidence in him
Yankees' Ben Rice runs to first base after a hit against the Mariners on Monday in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Steph Chambers
SEATTLE – With the Yankees it is always instructive – always – to pay attention to their actions. Their words, not as much.
For instance, the Yankees spent much of 2025 publicly praising Jasson Dominguez’s steady “improvement” in leftfield, saying they were “comfortable” playing him there and so on.
Yet the eye test of watching a young player continue to struggle in the field told a different story, according to not just fans but talent evaluators both inside and outside the organization. As did something else clear to the eye: looking at the column showing number of games played in left and seeing that number gradually dwindle in the season’s second half (much of that had to do with the consistent production of the starting outfield of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge but it wasn’t the only reason). By the postseason, when Dominguez had all of one at-bat, he was a roster afterthought.
And so there was appropriate skepticism when the Yankees said throughout the winter, and then throughout the spring, that Ben Rice would be the everyday first baseman in 2026; that the young slugger who has quickly become a fan-favorite because of the potential he has shown with his bat would see the field regularly against lefty pitching. That he would be given a chance, a real chance, to hit lefties, something Rice didn’t get a ton of opportunities to do last season and, when he did, didn’t do well (Rice hit .208 with seven homers and a .752 OPS against lefties compared to hitting .269 with 19 homers and an .860 OPS against righties).
When Rice was left out of last Friday’s lineup against Giants lefty Robbie Ray, the reaction from Yankees fans on social media resembled that of when Aaron Judge gets a rare day off.
“Ben’s going to play against some lefties,” Aaron Boone said then. “A lot has to do with, the… first nine games, this probably is going to be the only lefty we see.”
It was defensible because it wasn’t so much a case of declining to give Rice a chance against lefties but wanting, because of the lack of lefthanded pitching the Yankees would be seeing early on, to get backup first baseman Paul Goldschmidt some at-bats, as well as reserve Amed Rosario who, like Goldschmidt, has hammered lefties in his career.
And so, buried inside Monday night’s 2-1 loss to the Mariners, came an early-season test case regarding the Yankees’ feelings on Rice, a real-time opportunity to back up much of what they’ve said.
The Mariners brought in lefthander Jose Ferrer with the game very much in doubt in the seventh inning. Boone could have, quite defensibly, sent up Goldschmidt, who is a superior fielder to the still-learning-first-base-on-the-fly Rice, to pitch hit (Goldschmidt is a career .3213 hitter vs. lefties with a 1.006 OPS, including a .336 batting average and .981 OPS last season).
Rice, however, stayed in and delivered a sharp ground smash single, 105.2 mph off the bat, to right-center.
“Benny, we trust him in those spots,” Boone said afterward. “He’s going to have those opportunities.”
Rice, in Tuesday night’s lineup batting cleanup against Seattle righthander Logan Gilbert, remains a work in progress in the field.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, before his hit in the top of the seventh off Ferrer, Rice failed to handle a skipped throw from third baseman Ryan McMahon. It’s the kind of scoop play a quality first baseman like Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, makes with regularity.
Nonetheless Rice, through a combination of Goldschmidt’s mentorship and, more significant, the intent with which he’s gone about his work in trying to make himself better at the position, continues to show marked improvement in the field.
As Goldschmidt said of Rice in the spring: “I think he has the potential to be a great first baseman.”
Before Tuesday night’s game Boone again was asked about Rice getting increased reps against lefthanders.
“I think he can more than hold his own against lefthanded pitching,” Boone said. “I think last year he did a good job of still impacting the ball against them, which is sometimes the biggest challenge. He did a good job of that. Look, we think he’s an outstanding hitter that’s early in his career, and the more he sees them, I think he’ll continue to develop against them and become more of an all-around hitter.”
Goldschmidt will still get the occasional start against some lefthanders, as he should because the 38-year-old needs reps as well.
Still, to this point with Rice, it appears the Yankees’ intent is for their actions to match their words.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
