The New York Yankees won’t have slugger Ben Rice in the lineup on Monday.
Rice left Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles with an injury after a pick-off throw from Max Fried. The Yankees announced that Rice left the game with a left hand contusion that he sustained on the pickoff attempt while playing first base in the third inning. The team said X-Rays came back negative, and he’s considered day-to-day.
Although Rice won’t need an IL stint, the slugger won’t be in the lineup on Monday, as Paul Goldschmidt is handling first base in the series finale. The Yankees’ lineup on Monday is as follows:
- T. Grisham CF
- A. Judge RF
- C. Bellinger LF
- J. Domínguez DH
- J. Chisholm Jr. 2B
- P. Goldschmidt 1B
- A. Wells C
- R. McMahon 3B
- J. Caballero SS
Whether or not Rice is available to pinch-hit off the bench is uncertain, but he won’t be in the starting lineup on Monday, which is disappointing news for the slugger.
Before the injury, Rice was off to a hot start as he’s hitting .343 with 12 home runs and 27 RBIs this season, and has been a key reason why the Yankees are off to a hot start.
Rice Details Injury
After Rice left Sunday’s game due to an injury, he said it was a little sore, but he doesn’t think it’s serious.
Rice said his hand was a little sore and he just caught the ball in a bad spot, and not Fried’s fault.
“It’s a little sore,” Rice said. “I thought the throw (from Fried) was going to be a little lower than it was. I went down and thought it would be in the dirt. Then it kind of stayed up in the end. I caught it poorly. It kind of hit in the palm.”
Before Rice left the game, he was on base for Aaron Judge’s 13th home run of the season, which wasn’t shocking to the first baseman.
“It goes without saying that he isn’t going to let me catch him [in home runs]. I was happy to be on base for that one,” Rice said. “Any time I can be mentioned in the same sentence as him, I’m thrilled. Like I said, it’s fun to watch him.”
Rice and Judge are the fifth pair of teammates in history with 12-plus homers each through the first 34 games of the season.
Yankees Off to Hot Start
New York is off to a hot start and has the best record in the American League.
Ahead of Monday’s actions, MLB.com shared its latest power rankings and had the Yankees in second place, the same spot they held last week.
“The Yankees have had high hopes for Ben Rice ever since they drafted him in the 12th round in 2021. But did they ever see this coming? Rice isn’t just outslugging Aaron Judge … he’s outslugging every other player in baseball. His 1.214 OPS leads the entire sport. This Yankees team, especially when Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón return, sure looks like it might be the best Yankees team we’ve seen in quite a while,” the power rankings read.
The Yankees are 23-11 and atop the AL East.
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