Yankees Injury Notes: Latest on Ben Rice, Carlos Rodon on cusp of return

TL;DR

Yankees manager Aaron Boone updates on injured players Ben Rice and Carlos Rodon. Rice is out for a second game due to a hand injury, while Rodon is nearing a return.

Key points

Aaron Boone provided updates on injured Yankees players.
Ben Rice is out for a second game due to a hand injury.
Carlos Rodon is nearing a return to the team.

Mentioned in this story

Aaron Boone

YankeesBen RiceCarlos Rodon

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates on a few injured players ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Rangers...

Ben Rice's progress

The young Yankees slugger is out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive game after being hit in the hand by a pitch in Sunday's matchup with the Orioles.

The Yankees skipper was asked what Rice would need to do to be used off the bench, and Boone said the next few hours will determine the first baseman's availability.

"He hasn’t really started hitting yet," Boone said. "If he starts doing some light hitting and then can ramp it up even more, and do the things he needs to do to get a swing off, then we’ll have a conversation. We’ll see how the next few hours are here."

Rice has been the Yankees' most consistent hitter and their most dangerous bat alongside Aaron Judge. In 33 games, Rice is hitting .342 with an OPS of 1.214 to go along with his 12 home runs and 27 RBI.

Carlos Rodon's next start

Rodon is set to make his latest rehab start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night. Boone was asked if everything went well in this start, whether the southpaw's next step will be to return to the Yankees, and the manager confirmed that.

Tuesday will be Rodon's third rehab start since offseason elbow surgery. His first start was with High-A Hudson Valley, where he allowed one hit and one walk over 4.1 innings. His second start saw him dominate Double-A with Somerset. Rodon struck out eight batters and allowed one run on five hits across 5.1 innings on April 30.