NEW YORK — Ben Rice keeps finding ways to attach his name to legends. His latest milestone places him in some of the most exclusive company the Yankees have ever produced.
When Rice connected for his 20th home run of the season, he did more than pad his stat line. He joined a list of Yankees so short and so star-studded that it almost defies belief for a player in his first full season.
The breakout that began last year has reached a level few saw coming.
The swing that made history
The milestone came Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Rice launched a two-run homer off White Sox starter Davis Martin in the fourth inning, part of the Yankees’ 12-2 rout of Chicago.
The blast helped blow the game open and capped a big night at the plate for the slugger. More than that, it carried Rice across the threshold into a piece of Yankees history he had been steadily approaching.
Joining the immortals
The number that matters is a specific statistical threshold for the Yankees. Rice has reached 70 hits, 20 home runs, and 35 walks within the first 66 games of a season.
Only a handful of players in the long history of the franchise have ever done that. The names ahead of him are the pillars of Yankees lore.
Babe Ruth accomplished the feat 11 times, Lou Gehrig four times, and Mickey Mantle three. Aaron Judge has done it three times, while Alex Rodriguez (2007) and Mark Teixeira (2009) each reached the mark once. Rice is now the newest member of that club in 2026.
For a hitter still establishing himself, sharing a list with Ruth, Gehrig, and Mantle is a staggering distinction.
The exclusivity is the point. Across more than a century of Yankees baseball, only seven players have reached those marks that quickly, and six of them are either in the Hall of Fame or headed there. Rice is the lone newcomer to crack the group, and he did it in his first extended run as an everyday player.
Ahead of last year’s blistering pace
The milestone is even more impressive when measured against Rice’s own breakout debut. He is outpacing the production that first put him on the map.
Rice belted 26 home runs in 138 games last season, a strong total that announced his arrival. This year, he has reached 20 long balls in just 66 games, less than half a season.
The calendar tells the story plainly. Rice did not hit his 20th homer until Aug. 21 last season. This year, he arrived at the same number on June 16, more than two months earlier.
Leading the league’s first basemen
Rice is not just piling up homers for the Yankees. He has emerged as arguably the best first baseman in the sport this season.
Among the 31 qualified first basemen in the majors, Rice ranks at or near the top in nearly every category. He is tied for first with 20 home runs and leads the group outright in slugging percentage at .622, OPS at 1.012, and weighted runs created plus at 175.
The rest of his profile is just as loud. Rice sits second with a .295 average, third with a .390 on-base percentage, fourth with 49 RBIs, and second with 2.9 wins above replacement among the position group.
Carrying the Yankees offense
Perhaps the clearest measure of Rice’s value is what the Yankees look like without him. The drop-off is dramatic.
Subtract Rice from the lineup, and the Yankees offense would rank just tied for third in weighted runs created plus at 108, sixth in OPS at .743, sixth in slugging at .418, and fifth in hitting WAR at 11.2. His bat single-handedly lifts the unit from solid to elite.
That impact has carried extra weight with Aaron Judge sidelined by injury. The Yankees have needed someone to anchor the middle of the order, and Rice has answered emphatically.
An All-Star case building
Rice’s production has fueled a growing push for national recognition. The numbers make a compelling argument for the Yankees standout.
He ranks second in the entire majors in OPS, a mark that places him among the most productive hitters in baseball regardless of position. By nearly every advanced measure, his season has tracked at an MVP-caliber level through the first three months.
That has prompted calls for Rice to earn an All-Star selection, a nod that would cap a remarkable rise. For a player who entered the year still proving the breakout was real, the recognition would be a fitting reward.
The competition at his position only sharpens the case. Rice has out-hit nearly every first baseman in the game by the advanced metrics, and his combination of power and on-base skill has separated him from the field. Few players have a stronger statistical argument for a starting nod in the Yankees lineup.
The home run that landed Rice in the record book was one more sign that his emergence is no fluke for the Yankees. The body of work has erased any doubt.
From a part-time piece to a franchise cornerstone, Rice has transformed himself into one of the faces of the lineup. The pace, the power, and the plate discipline all point to a hitter operating at the peak of the sport.
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