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Yankees can fix Ben Rice situation with one small solution
TL;DR
The Yankees need to adjust their lineup to ensure Ben Rice plays daily, especially against left-handed pitchers. A potential solution is to have Rice catch, allowing both him and Paul Goldschmidt to be in the lineup.
Key points
- Ben Rice is one of the better players on the Yankees roster.
- Paul Goldschmidt is currently starting against all left-handers at first base.
- Aaron Boone is cautious about having Rice catch due to lack of experience this spring.
New York YankeesBen RicePaul GoldschmidtAustin Wells
Yankees can fix Ben Rice situation with one small solution originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It's getting to a point where it's tough to justify what Aaron Boone is doing with New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice. Rice is undoubtedly one of the better players on this roster, and no matter who is on the mound, he deserves to play every single day. Unfortunately, that just hasn't been the case when left-handers are starting.
It's obvious that the Yankees want to give Paul Goldschmidt some at-bats against left-handed pitching. Some at-bats at the moment currently means him starting against all left-handers at first base.
While it's uncertain if that will change, there's an obvious fix to some of this mess.
“One way to get Rice and Goldschmidt in the lineup against lefties would be to have Rice catch and have Austin Wells on the bench, but Boone said he is not yet ready to have him play a full game there because he did not start any games behind the plate this spring — the Yankees wanted him to get as many reps as possible at first base — and needs to build up that workload still,” Greg Joyce of the Post wrote.
From an offensive standpoint, I'm more than willing to give Rice a chance behind the plate.
Perhaps there are starters in the rotation saying behind the scenes that they don't want to throw to Rice, which could be the problem here, but the Yankees' offense needs to manufacture some runs, and not having Rice doesn't solve any of that.
Q&A
Why is Ben Rice not playing regularly for the Yankees?
Ben Rice is not playing regularly because the Yankees are prioritizing Paul Goldschmidt's at-bats against left-handed pitchers.
What solution is proposed for getting Ben Rice in the lineup?
The proposed solution is to have Ben Rice catch, which would allow him and Paul Goldschmidt to both be in the lineup against left-handed pitchers.
What is Aaron Boone's stance on Ben Rice catching?
Aaron Boone is hesitant to have Ben Rice catch a full game yet, as he needs to build up his workload after not starting games behind the plate during spring training.
