Tag Archives: Ben Rice

July 7, 2024

Best Batter Today

Saturday brought a bit of a reshuffling to the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Shohei Ohtani posted the second highest game score of the day, an 81 to move back into the top five, taking fourth place. He posted a perfect day at the plate, two for two with two walks, a hit by pitch, and a triple in a 5-3 win over the Brewers. That gives him 32 triples for his career, which started in 2018. He ranks fifth in the category over that time despite missing significant time to injury.

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto of the Yankees remain one and two respectively after a 14-4 win over the Red Sox. Soto did not contribute, going 0 for 5, but Judge collected two singles in his five PA and is now hitting .312. Rookie Ben Rice came out as the star of the game, three for five with three home runs for the highest game score of the day, an 88. I discussed Rice last night.

Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles sits in third place as he went two for two with a walk, but the Orioles fell to the Athletics 19-8. Four Athletics collected three hits, each with a game score of 70 or 71. Yordan Alvarez of the Astros drops to fifth place. He went 0 for 2 in a 9-3 Twins win.

July 6, 2024

Uncle Ben

Ben Rice of the Yankees hit three home runs today to help New York to a 14-4 win over Boston. Rice, seasonal age 25, did a great job getting on base at every level of the minors and hit for power the the more A’s were added the level.

The Yankees moved him into the lead-off slot as Anthony Volpe slumped, and had a .364 OBP coming into the day. Saturday afternoon, he showed off his power.

I do wonder why the Yankees did not call him up last season to replace Anthony Rizzo after the concussion was discovered. Rice did miss May and June due to an oblique injury, but if he been on the team in August, might he had made a difference?

He is listed as a catcher-first baseman, but the way he hits I suspect that first base would keep his bat in the lineup longer. We’ll see what happens if and when Rizzo returns.