Yankees Announcer Blasts Team Over Ben Rice Situation

(Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)

It’s becoming increasingly frustrating to watch how the New York Yankees are handling Ben Rice, as it’s getting to a point where they’re not consistently playing their best nine when he’s out of the lineup.

Rice has been one of the team’s best hitters, and any game he doesn’t start is going to draw attention to Aaron Boone and the decision-makers in the organization.

That doesn’t mean Boone is always making the wrong decision, but there’s little justification for sitting Rice against left-handed pitching. If development is part of the plan, then those are exactly the matchups where a young player should be getting opportunities.

It’s encouraging to see more people starting to talk about it, including Yankees announcer Michael Kay, who pushed back on Boone’s previous stance that Rice isn’t a platoon player.

“Is Rice a platoon player? And excuse my language, but Boone says, ‘Hell no.’ But when he doesn’t start in four or five games against a lefthander, it kind of screams out platoon,” Kay said on his ESPN New York show, per NJ.com.

Part of the issue is due to how the Yankees are handling Paul Goldschmidt. Because of his presence on the roster, he’s naturally going to receive at-bats. While moving on from him would be unlikely given his track record and reputation, it does create a situation in which Rice’s playing time is affected despite his strong performance.

“Since he can only play one position, he’s going to replace Rice against left-handed pitching. So even though you’ll deploy Rice off the bench later in the game when they go to a right-hander in the bullpen, you’re taking at-bats away from one of the best hitters in your lineup,” Kay explained.

“If you’re using him in the fifth, that’s two at-bats he didn’t get at the beginning of the game. You’re using him in the eighth, that’s three to four at-bats that you’ve left in the dugout with him,” Kay said. “I don’t know how you solve this problem.”