Yankees' Ben Rice, their top hitter, has been benched for two consecutive games against left-handed pitchers, with manager Aaron Boone opting for Paul Goldschmidt instead. Boone cited Goldschmidt's strong performance against lefties as the reason for the decision.
NEW YORK ā The first question in Aaron Booneās Tuesday pre-game news conference was an obvious one with first baseman Ben Rice, the Yankeesā hottest hitter, out of the lineup for the second night in a row.
Just like the previous three times the Yankees faced a left-handed starting pitcher, Paul Goldschmidt, a right-handed hitter, started over Rice, a lefty who is first in the American League in OPS, third in hitting, seventh in RBI and 10th in homers.
Explaining his decision, Boone said Goldschmidtās āsuperpowerā at age 38 is hitting left-handed pitching. He mentioned Rice coming off the bench to get five at-bats over the previous two games that the Yankees faced a lefty.
What about starting Rice at catcher?
āIām not ready to catch Benny,ā the manager said before the Yankeesā 7-1 loss to the Angels. āI would put him in a game, but Iām not ready to go five, seven, whatever innings with him yet.ā
Rice, who drove in the Yankeesā only run Tuesday with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, is a natural catcher who made 24 starts behind the plate last season.
For Wednesdayās game against the Angels, Yankees -1.5 run line is listed at +104 on FanDuel. Our complete FanDuel Sportsbook review makes it easy to figure out how to navigate their site.
Also, Riceās .273 average facing left-handers this year, three hits in 11 at-bats, is second best on the Yankees, whose .147 batting average and .485 OPS against lefties is by far the worst in the majors.
Starting catcher Austin Wells, who also hits lefty, is 2-for-17 counting his 1-for-3 Tuesday against Angels lefty starter Reid Detmers. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra also hits left-handed, but all 12 of his plate appearances have been against righties.
Goldschmidt, by the way, is hitting .182 in 11 at-bats against lefties after raking at a .336 clip in 2025.
Pressed about Riceās catching, Boone said it could play out like it did last year. In 2025, Riceās first full season, he caught one inning in April, 3.2 over three mop-ups in May and then beginning in mid-June was in the lineup for the first of 24 starts.
So far this season, Wells has started 14 of the Yankeesā first 17 games with Escarra behind the plate for the other three.
In spring training, Riceās game action at catcher was limited to one inning because the Yankees wanted him focusing on improving his defense at first base, a position he didnāt play a lot until last year.
Heās been catching bullpens and live BPs since spring training, however. In fact, he was the receiver for rehabbing left-hander Carlos Rodonās 52-pitch live BP on Monday.
āI feel like weāll get there (with Rice catching), but we want to keep the focus on a lot of his first base work, as well,ā Boone said.
What should the Yankees do?
Theyāve admitted Wells and Escarra are better receivers, but Boone thinks Rice has some solid catching skills.
On Tuesday, Boone admitted that he gets tempted to work Rice into the catching plans to keep his bat in the lineup when Goldschmidt is at first.
But is Rice catching a good idea or not?
NJ.com went to a veteran MLB scout who saw a lot of Rice behind the plate last season for some expertise.
The scout, who was granted anonymity because heās not permitted by his club to publicly speak about opposing players, has a strong opinion:
āI absolutely love Riceās bat, but you canāt sacrifice pitching for his bat,ā the scout said. āHeās a project catching. The footwork is bad. The arm isnāt good. His transition is slow. Heās below average at catcher.
āThe Yankees can say what they want about Riceās catching. They can say they saw improvement last year, but I think heās too much of a liability back there.ā
Baseball Savantās analytics support the scoutās take.
Here are some numbers:
āI feel like Benny is really good at a lot of things at the catching position,ā Boone said. āI think last year he demonstrated an ability from calling a game and game planning and gaining the trust of a lot of our staff.
āItās not as traditional, but heās a very good receiver. Heās a solid blocker. He continues to work on the throwing part of things.
āBut I want to be smart, too, with how we do it back there and when we do it just because how valuable he is and what we see him becoming as an offensive player.ā
This is not an easy call. Thereās a lot more to catching than playing first base. You have to study opposing hitters. You have to know all of your pitchers. Also, you get banged up catching, especially on foul tips.
āItās still a very all-encompassing position that demands a lot,ā Boone said.
This extra responsibility didnāt affect Rice last year, the Yankees say, but his hitting has soared to a higher level this season. Boone doesnāt want to mess with that.
āI think he really handled that well last year, and that was what was really encouraging about last year,ā Boone said. āLast year I had trepidation about it, and as we slowly integrated him, I thought as the season went along you felt really good about the days he was back there for different reasons.
āSo weāll see how it unfolds.ā
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Ben Rice is not starting because manager Aaron Boone prefers Paul Goldschmidt, who excels against left-handed pitchers.
Ben Rice ranks first in OPS, third in hitting, seventh in RBI, and tenth in home runs in the American League.
Ben Rice has had five at-bats over the last two games where the Yankees faced left-handed pitchers.
Aaron Boone has not confirmed plans to start Ben Rice at catcher, focusing instead on Goldschmidt's ability against lefties.
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