Ben Rice took another step Friday in proving his value in the big leagues.
At the start of the season, the Yankees were hesitant to use him against left-handed pitchers, often leaving the catcher-turned-first baseman out of the lineup.
However, he continued to make his case to the Yankees that he can be matched up against anyone when he ripped a fifth home run of the season off a lefty in the Bombers’ 7-2 win over the Orioles.
In the bottom of the second inning, Rice hit a three-run blast off Cade Povich to give the Yankees an early 5-1 lead.
The 27-year-old does not feel he has established himself against left-handed pitchers just yet.
“I feel like I’ve taken some good at-bats against them. I don’t know if established would be the right word,” Rice said after the game. “I’m always confident in myself regardless of who is on the mound. Fortunately, today [I] was able to put a good swing on one but still got a long way to go.”
This season, the left-handed hitter has more reps against righties. Before facing the Orioles, he went 22-for-71 (.310) with six home runs and a 1.116 OPS against righties.
He was 10-for-27 (.370) with four homers and a 1.266 OPS against lefties.
A year ago, Rice faced southpaws in 106 at-bats versus 361 against righties.
After the home run dagger, Rice went 1-for-2 against Povich before finishing the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Following the victory, he ranked second in OPS against lefties (1.308) in MLB.
“We are continuing to see the evolution of one of the game’s really outstanding hitters, as simple as that,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s really disciplined. He’s got a really good plan night in and night out for who he is facing and what he wants to look for, and then he does a really good job controlling the zone. So, this is kinda that trajectory he’s been on since he first debuted.
“He’s just gotten better and better to the point of now he’s kinda been a wrecking ball.”
