New York Yankees’ Ben Rice is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run on a single hit by Cody … More
In this day and age, teams are often fond of talking about looking under the hood into some of the peripheral numbers such as the advanced statistics anyone can access and their own internal metrics. It is a way to say a low batting average is a product of bad luck and the player in question is still producing good at-bats and capable of turning the bad luck into results.
And in the case of Ben Rice, the exit velocity was amongst the things the Yankees were gushing about in spring training when he made and won his case to be the designated hitter on a virtually everyday basis until the day Giancarlo Stanton returns from injuries to both elbows.
In a disjointed start to a season defined by how the Yankees work around Gerrit Cole eventually rehabbing from Tommy John surgery on his elbow and how the some of their young players capitalize on opportunities, Rice’s production ranks among the highlights of the early going where the Yankees have played 10 times with game-time temperatures 50 times or under.
He also is part of unconventional leadoff arrangement for the Yankees, who are batting speed guys Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Volpe in the middle of the lineup behind Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. Rice has gotten five turns in the leadoff spot, homered twice and been on base each time and is part of a trio of Austin Wells and Paul Goldschmidt hitting well over .300 so far and both of those players own leadoff homers.
The Yankees saw him homer again Saturday, an inning after a two-strike single set up a much-needed five-run inning against the red-hot San Francisco Giants. The Yankees looked like the team who hit 22 homers in their first six home games after a week of frigid bats and temperatures.
To review, Rice was on the Yankees’ radar by the start of last season when he was converting from catching to first base. On June 16, Anthony Rizzo collided at first base in the seventh inning at Fenway Park and when he was diagnosed with a broken forearm, Rice was the pick to replace the veteran.
Rice showed some early glimpses with a three-homer game against the Boston Red Sox on July 7 but the overall numbers of .171 with six homers and 23 RBIs did not necessarily leave their mark, though of course Aaron Judge also hit .179 in his first month in the majors when he joined the Yankees in 2016 to replace Alex Rodriguez.
Back then exit velocity was not talked about often other than notable home runs. It would not become a popular talking point in 2018 and last year Rice had an average exit velocity of 90.0 mph, and it has since risen to 97.5, a mark that is second in the majors behind Pete Alonso, who is leading the NL in batting after returning to the Mets to hit behind Juan Soto.
“I think having a convicted approach every time you’re up to the plate,” he said after also saying he was not following the numbers closely. “Just trusting myself, trusting the instincts.”
It was instincts the Yankees seemed to notice in the underlying numbers they cited after a rainy win over the Giants.
“Those were a lot of things that were kind of underneath last year — even when he went through some struggles,” Boone said. “He was still not being rewarded a little bit for some pretty good contact at times. So I feel like he’s taking that to another level.
“I feel like he’s in a way better place, and a better hitter, and just a year more mature — physically, mentally. And playing with a lot of confidence. I mean, his at-bat quality is really good.”
All of those seem to be true about Rice. And if it keeps up to some degree, it might save the Yankees the trouble of seeking outside help for a lineup without Stanton for an undetermined amount of time.
“Same thing that we saw in spring,” Bellinger about Rice, who entered this season with 10 games of experience at leadoff. “It hasn’t really changed. Just locked in. Locked into his plan. Locked into his approach. Guy who hits the ball extremely hard. It’s very fun to watch. It’s very impressive.”
