A different lineup — Giancarlo Stanton received a day off after starting six days in a row and Paul Goldschmidt started against a lefty as Ben Rice got a turn at DH — had a different leadoff hitter.
For the first time this season, Rice batted atop the lineup in front of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Goldschmidt.
Rice has been among the game’s best hitters this season, but manager Aaron Boone said the slot would not become typical. Rice more often hits in the heart of the order and was moved up as a result of several off days (Jazz Chisholm Jr., too) and a unique matchup against lefty Cole Ragans, who has been better against righties than lefties.
Sunday, Ragans was not effective against any Yankee, particularly Rice.
Rice, who homered and drew two walks in five plate appearances in the 7-0 rout in The Bronx, is simply hitting everyone.
“I just got to continue to get the reps [against southpaws] and continue to swing at good pitches, work good at-bats,” said Rice, who is killing both lefties (1.332 OPS) and righties (1.255 OPS). “That’s all I can do.”
Even when Rice has been out of the starting lineup against lefties, Boone has been aggressive in pinch hitting Rice early, but reasons to ever sit him are dwindling.
Against Ragans, one of the game’s premier lefties, Rice worked a walk in the first inning right ahead of a Judge home run and then smacked his eighth homer of the season (and fourth in four games) in the second inning.
“I thought he was going to be on base a lot, going to make my job easier to get him in scoring position and drive him in, like I did in the first,” Judge said of the afternoon’s leadoff hitter. “Definitely going to be some headaches for opposing pitching staffs. … He’s top of the league right now.”
Boone said he likes Rice “pretty much against everyone” and emphasized that more goes into the lineup decision than just whether a pitcher is righty or lefty.
“Quality at-bat after quality at-bat,” Judge said of Rice. “Doesn’t matter who’s on the mound or the situation.”
In what was expected to be his final game with Double-A Somerset before moving up to SWB, Volpe went 2-for-4 while playing seven innings.
Volpe, who has gone 4-for-11 with two steals in four games, is expected to join SWB on Tuesday.
