{"id":98329,"date":"2025-09-09T07:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329"},"modified":"2025-09-09T07:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:10:11","slug":"the-yankees-have-a-secret-weapon-in-their-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329","title":{"rendered":"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s age of using analytics and underlying metrics to determine player value, it\u2019s possible to find great value in unassuming places. Perhaps the best recent example of this can be found in New York Yankees first baseman\/catcher Ben Rice, who is quickly becoming a secret weapon for the team. The 26-year-old is in his first full season with New York after a mediocre albeit short debut last year, highlighted by a three-homer game against the Boston Red Sox. Though Rice\u2019s slash line is a respectable .243\/.331\/.478, his OPS should actually sit somewhere around 1.000 (that is, if he wasn\u2019t a victim of some horrible luck).<\/p>\n

\"The
Sep 29, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (93) makes an errand toss to first base after fielding a ground ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ben Rice is the Yankees\u2019 Secret Weapon<\/h2>\n

Rice Rice, Baby<\/h3>\n

Through 121 games thus far, Rice has 23 homers, 54 RBI, and 64 runs. However, these counting stats don\u2019t do him justice whatsoever. According to Baseball Savant , Rice has a batting run value of 17, making him one of the top 50 hitters in MLB this season, sandwiched right between teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Christian Yelich. What\u2019s more, his xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, hard hit percentage, and barrel percentage are all in the 95th percentile or better. Now, what does this all mean? In short, it means that Rice has been one of the best hitters in the league this season, and that he\u2019s had some horrible luck that has skewed his counting stats.<\/p>\n

\n

BEN RICE 3-RUN BLAST! YANKS TAKE AN EARLY 3-0 LEAD! pic.twitter.com\/DyoG208kIo<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinYanks\/status\/1964748747692527683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1964748747692527683%7Ctwgr%5E90207d4f6e0a3e98979d3166cb536d7e7fd22bf4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flastwordonsports.com%2Fbaseball%2F2025%2F09%2F09%2Fben-rice-yankees-secret-weapon%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Top Offense<\/h3>\n

As a result, the Yankees arguably boast the league\u2019s top offensive unit. They lead all teams in homers, outpacing the second-place Seattle Mariners by 33, and they also lead the league in runs, walks, and OPS. This has also resulted in many of Rice\u2019s teammates overshadowing him, and not just the four former MVPs on the roster; guys like Chisholm and even Trent Grisham have gotten much more attention not only from the media but from opposing teams and pitchers as well.<\/p>\n

Come October, this could very well work in the Yankees\u2019 favor. It also doesn\u2019t hurt that Rice can play both first base and catcher, giving manager Aaron Boone plenty of options to slot the Dartmouth alum into the lineup. What\u2019s more, Rice does not struggle to hit left-handed pitching. Although his batting average against left-handers this season is currently .202, his OPS against them is .720. The Yankees do tend to make lineup decisions based on handedness and similar analytics, but there are no excuses for Rice to be out of the lineup in the postseason.<\/p>\n

Not a Bust(?)<\/h3>\n

Assuming that the Yankees don\u2019t go on a losing spree and miss out on the postseason, it\u2019s safe to assume that Rice will be a big part of their push for a second straight American League pennant, as well as the future of the team. Though skeptics may criticize him and cite players like Greg Bird and Miguel Andujar, who started off their Yankee careers spectacularly but could never amount to anything more than a platoon player, Rice\u2019s case is completely different.<\/p>\n

Even last season, when he was struggling more often than not, his underlying stats suggested that he had a lot going for him already. He has elite bat speed and plate discipline, especially for a player in his second year, and he has already improved drastically from his rookie year. The Yankees should be very excited about their first baseman of the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An example of finding great value in unassuming places, second-year Yankee Ben Rice is becoming a secret weapon in their lineup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":98331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An example of finding great value in unassuming places, second-year Yankee Ben Rice is becoming a secret weapon in their lineup.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329\",\"name\":\"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\",\"name\":\"MrLuu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrLuu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365","og_description":"An example of finding great value in unassuming places, second-year Yankee Ben Rice is becoming a secret weapon in their lineup.","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrLuu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrLuu","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329","name":"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-09T07:10:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/LUU-2-47.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=98329#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Yankees Have a Secret Weapon in Their Lineup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6","name":"MrLuu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrLuu"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98332,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98329\/revisions\/98332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}