The question heading into Wednesday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Angels: Is Rice back in the lineup tonight? The Yankees first baseman — MLB’s current leader in OPS — was caught on video visibly upset, apparently venting to captain Aaron Judge in the dugout Tuesday night after manager Aaron Boone kept him out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, according to a report by Esteban Quiñones of Pinstripes Nation. The video spread fast across Yankees social media.
So will Boone let Rice play? Tonight’s Angels starter is right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, which eliminates the platoon math Boone used to justify the two-game absence. First pitch at Yankee Stadium is set for 7:05 p.m. ET. With no southpaw on the mound for the Angels, there is no reasonable case to keep Rice on the bench.
But will that stop Boone from benching Rice for what would be the fourth time in six games?
Ben Rice Is Baseball’s Hottest Hitter. So Why Was He Benched?
Rice, a 27-year-old left-handed first baseman, entered Tuesday leading all of Major League Baseball in on-base percentage (.508) and OPS (1.253), according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. He was hitting .362 with four home runs and 12 RBIs through 15 games. None of that mattered to Boone, who turned again to veteran Paul Goldschmidt against Angels left-hander Reid Detmers, the second consecutive start Rice missed facing a southpaw.
The strategy did not work out. The Angels jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning and rolled to a 7-1 win. Rice sat until the eighth inning, when the outcome had been long decided, hitting a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1. Goldschmidt went a combined 1-for-5 with two strikeouts over the first two games of the series.
Making the decision look even more questionable: Detmers actually carries a higher career opponent OPS against lefties than righties.
“Lefties have a career .764 OPS vs. a .740 OPS for righties against Reid Detmers,” wrote Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. The platoon edge Boone sought simply was not there in the data.
Rice is a Dartmouth-educated 12th-round draft pick who has earned everything he has in the big leagues. In his first full big-league season in 2025, he hit 26 home runs with an .836 OPS and a 133 wRC+ over 138 games, according to ESPN.
His 2026 Statcast numbers have been elite: a 97 mph average exit velocity, a 72.4% hard-hit rate and a .532 wOBA, per Baseball Savant. Since the second half of 2025, he has posted a .277/.352/.596 slash line with a 157 wRC+ in 54 plate appearances against left-handers.
Boone has framed the arrangement as smart deployment.
“Having the ability to cherry-pick when I fire Benny Rice in a big spot, I like that,” he told reporters, per Pantorno of amNewYork.
Rice has taken the professional approach.
“I know if I’m not starting, there’s a good chance I’m going to be in there in a high-leverage situation,” he told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
Yankees–Angels Finale: What to Expect Tonight
New York enters Wednesday at 8-7, with the Angels at 8-8. Luis Gil starts for the Yankees opposite Kochanowicz. The Yankees have lost six of their last seven and need a win badly. With a right-hander on the mound and Rice expected back in the cleanup spot, New York will have its best lineup on the field for the first time in two nights. The real question is whether Boone adjusts his approach to Rice against left-handers before it costs the team something more than a pair of losses and some very unhappy video.
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