Despite Being One Of The Best Hitters In The Game Right Now, Ben Rice Has Been Turned Into a Platoon Player Who Doesn't Play Everyday Because Aaron Boone Is An Asshole

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Ben Rice is an awesome baseball player for the New York Yankees. He represents of the few offensive successes they've been able to develop in the minor leagues over the years. He's an extremely intelligent dude who works hard and swings harder. You don't come across hitters who have these metrics too often. When you do they're typically the elite of the elite in the game. 

Last year, in Rice's first full season in the big leagues he ran into a bunch of batted ball bad luck, meaning he frequently hit the ball on the screws right at somebody. While that was frustrating as can be, it painted the picture of a very optimistic future as water eventually found its level. So far in 2026 you're seeing that happen. The result? Rice has been one of the best hitters in the sport so far this season. 

His slash line currently looks like this: .362/.500/.745. Rice leads the league in OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+. When you look at the rest of the Yankees lineup, this kind of performance is desperately needed. On a daily basis you're dealing with Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells, Jose Caballero, Randal Grichuk, Trent Grisham, and Ryan McMahon. Without Rice who knows how rough the Yankees record would look like. 

So when I say all of that wouldn't you want or expect Rice in the lineup every game? Seems like a no brainer, right? Well, not according to one man. One idiot. One dickhead. 

New York Yankees. Getty Images.

Here's reality. If a left handed pitcher is starting the game, Aaron Boone does not believe Ben Rice should play. Last night for example the Yankees faced Angels lefty Reid Detmers. They treated him like he was prime Tarik Skubal and flooded the lineup with any righty they could find, even asking the bat boy which batter's box he was comfortable in. Rice, Bellinger, and Jazz were out of the lineup, and in place of them were Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk, and Amed Rosario (didn't have an issue with him). Why? No other reason than they bat right handed. Keep in mind Detmers is a fairly neutral split guy, so deploying a bunch of righties didn't even come off that genius. 

This was the second game in a row that Boone had benched Rice, causing reporters to ask him what the deal was? Boone's response was he wanted to "cherry pick" when he could put Rice in the game. 

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On Tuesday night Boone deployed Rice in the 8th inning, with the Yankees trailing 7-0. Checkmate. What a move by the Yankees skipper. That's strategy you can't find from the common baseball mind. What did Rice do? He drove in the runner from third to give the Yankees their only run of the game. Really put the Angels brass in a mental torture chamber there. 

So why is Boone so scared to let Ben Rice hit against lefties? For starters he views Paul Goldshmidt as the same player he was when he won the MVP back in 2022. This was my fear when the Yankees brought him back for another year. We were told it would not be the same as last year when Goldy dominated the at bats at first, especially against lefties. But when you give Boone the option to play one or the other, he automatically prefers the RHB vs. LHP angle, regardless of the numbers or situation. It's a disease. 

For a large part of Goldy's career he mashed left handed pitching and was a force to be reckoned with. That trend even continued to the first half of last season in pinstripes. The thing is, since the end of May last year, he has not been as dominant. 

Rice on the other hand posted a .481 SLG and .752 OPS in his 119 plate appearances vs. lefties last year. He holds his own! Is it at the same level as his success vs. righties? No, but he's not hurting the team up there and for a guy who swings the way he does, deserves all the reps he can get against any kind of pitcher. He's earned it. There's plenty of reason to believe he can become an even better hitter against that kind of pitcher, he just needs the reps. Wouldn't you want those reps to come against inferior pitchers like Kikuchi and Detmers? Nope, not to Boone. 

Boone pushed back on the Rice "platoon" narrative earlier today, going as far to say "hell no" to that assumption. This is what we call lying, Boone is awful at it, but continues to do it all the time to the fanbase. 

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He can say all he wants, but not starting Ben Rice every game is hurting the New York Yankees. You have a budding offensive star in this game who you're holding back for really no reason at all. Instead guys like Randal Grichuk, who doesn't belong in the sport anymore, are getting at bats. Ryan McMahon offered up his equivalent to Joe Judge kneeing on his own 5 yard line last night with this bunt back to the pitcher. 

Those are the at bats we're getting. Awesome. Obviously roster construction is a massive issue here as well. For fuck's sake the Yankees have three left handed hitting catchers on the 26 man roster. Do you know how stupid that sounds? They are so lefty dominant as a team that they force themselves into dumb lineups like last night where Grichuk is hitting 6th despite zero signs he can be a competent MLB bat anymore. Boone can't help what roster he's given, but not maximizing Ben Rice's abilities is the equivalent of Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg. That's what it's like with Aaron Boone at manager of your favorite baseball team, constantly shooting yourself in the leg. Just let Ben Rice play baseball and get out of his way, asshole.