Ben Rice cleaning up in star-studded Yankees lineup - ESPN

NEW YORK — Will Warren observed Ben Rice's under-the-radar rise through professional baseball firsthand after they were drafted four rounds apart in 2021.

The New York Yankees' right-hander watched Rice, then a full-time catcher out of Dartmouth, terrorize pitchers at every level without much fanfare until he reached the big leagues in June 2024. Last year, he watched Rice crush baseballs to all fields, only for the results to not fully reflect the process. So, what Warren and the rest of the baseball world are seeing this season isn't surprising.

«Ben Rice is averaging out right now,» Warren said with a smile.

It is early, very early, but Rice is 12-for-37 with three home runs, 11 RBIs and 11 walks through 11 games as the Yankees' primary cleanup hitter. He's among the major league leaders in traditional metrics, such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and in modern metrics, such as xwOBA and hard-hit percentage. He managed the Yankees' only hit Thursday as their offense scuffled in a second straight loss to the Athletics.

On a roster with expensive stars, future Hall of Famers and hyped former prospects, Rice, 27, has emerged from relative obscurity to establish himself as one of the most pivotal players on a World Series contender in just his second full major league season.

«You're starting to see what we saw last year where some of the balls he was hitting hard weren't falling,» Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said. «This year, he's getting those hits. And then, it's the experience he has from one more year in the league. He knows he belongs in this league, and it takes some time to get there. When you first get to this league, you're trying to feel your way around it. But now, you watch him, he knows