KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ben Rice spent years learning to catch. The Yankees have spent this season making sure he does not.
That decision keeps looking wiser with every swing. Rice delivered again Wednesday night, driving in three runs to fuel a 7-0 victory over the Royals that completed a three-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium. He has turned into one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. The Yankees have quietly concluded that his bat is too precious to risk behind the plate.
Rice was a catcher at Dartmouth and throughout his climb in the minors. He split time between first base, designated hitter and catcher during his 2025 breakout. In 2026, though, he has not strapped on the gear once. Every appearance has come at first base or as the DH. The reasoning is simple, and it traces directly to how good he has become.
Rice’s bat ranks among the best in baseball
The numbers explain the caution. Rice carries a .993 OPS, which ranks second in the majors behind only Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros. His 16 home runs sit just five shy of Kyle Schwarber’s MLB-leading total. For a Yankees lineup chasing a championship, a hitter that productive is not someone to expose to the grind of catching.
Wednesday offered a fresh reminder of his value. Rice came up in the fourth inning with Paul Goldschmidt aboard and the game scoreless. He drove a pitch the other way at 104.5 mph, banging it off the left field wall. The ball took a long carom, and Rice raced into third with an RBI triple as Goldschmidt scored all the way from first. Aaron Judge followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Rice home for a 2-0 Yankees lead.
He was not finished. The Yankees loaded the bases in the seventh after singles from Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon around a walk to Anthony Volpe. The first two hitters made outs, and the rally looked stuck. Then the order turned over. Goldschmidt drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, and Rice ripped a single to right that scored two more for a commanding 5-0 cushion.
Rice finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a walk. The night capped a rapid turnaround for the left-handed slugger. He had entered Tuesday buried in an 11-for-66 slump. Over his next two games, he went 5-for-9 with a pair of walks, looking every bit like the middle-of-the-order force the Yankees believe him to be.
Why the Yankees refuse to let Rice catch
Here is the heart of the matter. The Yankees are deliberately keeping Rice away from catching, and a big part of the reason is fear of injury. A player this valuable is simply not worth the added risk that comes with squatting behind the plate for 130-plus games. The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty laid out the thinking plainly.
“Rice has been so good that the Yankees haven’t let him catch, partially out of fear that he’d be at increased injury risk,” Kuty wrote. “He’s been too valuable to mess around with.”
That logic holds up on every level. Catching is the most physically punishing job in baseball. Foul tips, home plate collisions and the daily toll of crouching all raise the odds of a breakdown. A bat producing at an MVP level belongs in the lineup as often as possible, not parked on the injured list because of a freak play at the plate.
The Yankees also have the depth to make the choice painless. Austin Wells and JC Escarra handle the catching duties, and while neither offers much with the bat, both grade out as above-average defenders. That arrangement lets the Yankees protect Rice without weakening themselves behind the plate. Wells and Escarra catch. Rice rakes. Everyone stays in their lane.
There is a practical angle, too. Rice has not caught in a game all year. Asking him to suddenly return to the position would invite rust and even more injury exposure. The longer he stays away, the less sense it makes to bring him back. The Yankees appear perfectly content to let his catching past fade into the background.
A homegrown answer at first base for New York
His emergence at first base carries added weight for the franchise. The Yankees have struggled to develop a homegrown first baseman for years, a revolving door that stretches back to the end of Mark Teixeira‘s career. Rice, a 12th-round pick out of Dartmouth in 2021, has a chance to finally fill that void. He is doing it while batting near the top of the order on a contender.
Goldschmidt’s strong play has helped ease any pressure on the position. But the veteran cannot replace what Rice provides, and the Yankees know they cannot afford to lose their young slugger for an extended stretch. Protecting him is not caution for its own sake. It is a calculated bet on keeping a premier bat healthy through October.
The broader picture only sharpens the point. The Yankees improved to 34-22 with the win and have now beaten the Royals 14 straight times overall. They swept the season series while outscoring Kansas City 50-10. Rice has been central to the surge, and his bat is exactly the kind of weapon a team guards carefully.
For now, the plan is working better than the Yankees could have scripted. Rice keeps hitting. The Yankees keep winning. And the gear he once wore behind the plate stays in the closet, right where his employers want it. What once looked like a positional question has become one of the smarter calls of the Yankees’ season.
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