NEW YORK — Tino Martinez watched Ben Rice hit this spring and came away with one conclusion.
The Yankees need him in the lineup every day. Against righties. Against lefties. Against anyone.
Martinez is not a casual observer. He spent seven seasons at first base for the Yankees, hit a grand slam off a lefty in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series and lived through the same career evolution he is now watching Rice go through. He sees it clearly because he went through it himself.
Speaking to NJ.com columnist Bob Klapisch this week, the 1998 World Series champion made his position plain.
“Ben needs to be in the lineup against righties and lefties, I don’t care what the analytics say,” Martinez said. “I know him from spring training, I’ve watched him hit. Believe me, the only people who are happy when Ben Rice isn’t in the lineup is the opposing pitcher.”
The home run that made the case again
Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Rice did what doubters said a Yankees first baseman like him could not do against left-handed pitching. He drove a three-run homer off Orioles lefty Cade Povich in the bottom of the second inning. It pushed the Yankees to a 5-1 lead and helped set up a 7-2 win.
It was his 11th home run of the season and his fifth off a left-handed pitcher. The Yankees managed 41,239 fans in the building. They saw Rice finish 2-for-5 with three RBI.
After the game, Rice was asked whether Friday proved he had established himself against left-handed pitching. He did not overstate the moment. His answer reflected the same disciplined mindset that has made him one of the toughest outs in the American League.
“I feel like I’ve taken some good at-bats against them,” Rice said. “I don’t know if established would be the right word. I’m always confident in myself regardless of who is on the mound. Fortunately, today I was able to put a good swing on one but still got a long way to go.”
The numbers that back Martinez up
Rice has played in 31 games for the Yankees this season. He is sixth in the AL in batting average at .327. He ranks second in OPS at 1.157. He and Aaron Judge have combined for 21 home runs, by some distance the most productive one-two punch at the top of any Yankees lineup in recent memory.
His splits against left-handed pitching have been particularly striking. Heading into Friday’s game, he had gone 10-for-27 against southpaws, a .370 average, with four homers and a 1.266 OPS. After Friday’s performance, his OPS against lefties climbed to 1.308, second-best in all of baseball at that point.
A year ago, the Yankees restricted Rice against lefties to just 106 times in 467 at-bats. The rest, 361 at-bats, came against right-handed pitching. The platoon restriction has been quietly dissolving as his numbers against southpaws have grown impossible to ignore.
Against right-handed pitchers this season, he went 22-for-71 through 31 games, a .310 average, with six home runs and a 1.116 OPS. The splits are virtually even. The platoon is no longer a ceiling for Rice. It is simply irrelevant.
Boone’s ‘wrecking ball’ verdict
Aaron Boone has watched Rice build this production from the first day of spring training. He has not been surprised by any of it. After Friday’s game, Boone was asked to describe what Rice has become for the Yankees.
The Yankees manager reached for language that matched the production. He explained what he sees on the field and what he recognizes in the way Rice prepares.
“We are continuing to see the evolution of one of the game’s really outstanding hitters, as simple as that,” Boone said. “He’s really disciplined. He’s got a really good plan night in and night out for who he is facing and what he wants to look for, and then he does a really good job controlling the zone. So, this is kinda that trajectory he’s been on since he first debuted. He’s just gotten better and better to the point of now he’s kinda been a wrecking ball.”
| Stat | Rank | Value |
| HR | 2nd | 11 |
| Runs | T-1st | 27 |
| OBP | 1st | .444 |
| SLG | 1st | .740 |
| OPS | 1st | 1.184 |
| wRC+ | 1st | 216 |
| fWAR | 1st | 1.8 |
The Tino Martinez parallel
Martinez’s comparison carries context. He was a left-handed hitter who spent the early part of his career strictly platoon-managed. Lou Piniella challenged that approach in 1993. By 1995, Martinez hit 31 home runs and drove in more than 100 runs in a season for the first time.
He batted 41 points higher against left-handers than against right-handers that year, with a 105-point OPS differential in favor of southpaws. The career that followed included a World Series ring and a grand slam in the Fall Classic against a left-handed pitcher.
Martinez sees Rice the same way Piniella once saw him. Not as a matchup problem. As a Yankees everyday player who gets better when the lineup card stops limiting him.
The Yankees’ planned platoon with Paul Goldschmidt at first base was already on life support before Friday. Rice is batting .327 against all pitching. He has 11 home runs in 32 Yankees games. He ranks second in baseball in OPS against left-handers. Goldschmidt is batting .179.
The debate is over. Rice is in the lineup.
Ben Rice’s production is elite right now—low cost, massive impact for the Yankees.
What do you think?
