Let’s get this out of the way: Ben Rice is staying with the Yankees once Giancarlo Stanton returns from the injured list. Obviously.
Only four MLB players are hitting the ball harder than Rice this season, as measured by average exit velocity: Oneil Cruz, Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso. Rice is closer to gracing the cover of “MLB: The Show” than he is to earning a trip to Scranton.
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But the team will have a redundancy at designated hitter once it activates Stanton, which could come as soon as late next week. Stanton, out since spring training with tendinitis in both elbows, is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment early in the week. Barring physical setbacks, he shouldn’t need many games before he is ready for the big leagues.
Once that happens, Yankees brass will face two challenges. The front office will have to figure out how to get Stanton back on the roster without optioning Rice, and Aaron Boone and his staff will have to find playing time for both.
The first problem is the easier of the two: assuming that everyone currently healthy remains so when Stanton returns, the Yankees can simply designate either Pablo Reyes or Oswald Peraza for assignment.
Peraza could have an edge to stay because he has more experience at shortstop, and every team needs a backup at that position (Jazz Chisholm Jr. has played 47 MLB games at shortstop and could slide over in an emergency).
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It does not seem that the Yankees are seriously considering splashier roster moves, like designating DJ LeMahieu for assignment or optioning J.C. Escarra to make Rice one of the team’s two catchers. Jasson Dominguez has options, but his spot is not at risk, either.
Once Stanton arrives, Boone will have to find a way to play Stanton, Rice and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt regularly — say, at least two out of every three games.
He can begin by easing Stanton in and using Rice against right-handed pitching. Beyond that, he can move Rice between first base and DH. Rice, a catcher by trade, had continued to work at that position before games with catching coordinator Tanner Swanson. He could start at catcher occasionally, but Escarra is Austin Wells‘ backup and shouldn’t see his playing time significantly reduced.
Rice recently took ground balls at third base, but he is not a candidate to play there. The Yankees do not plan to use Rice at any defensive position other than first base and catcher.
