Slugger Carrying Yankees Through Aaron Judge Cold Spell

This year, Giancarlo Stanton, who is sitting on a five-game multi-hit streak, has been carrying a lot of the offense's load, but he isn't alone. Another 22 has stepped up. That's Ben Rice, who was the 13th-ranked prospect in the Yankees' farm system before being called up in 2024.

So far, in the early portion of the season, Rice has been on base in every game and is coming off back-to-back two-hit days in Seattle. In a season in its infancy, Rice already has three doubles, and his lone homer ended up being a difference maker in Seattle, as the team mounted a comeback in the eighth and ninth innings. His blast is a reason why the Mariners eventually fell short.

Last year, when Rice first took off, he ran into a ton of bad luck. The batted-ball data reflected a player whose rockets inconveniently found gloves. With those four extra base hits in six games, the bad luck could be going in the other direction. Balls are falling in, whereas at times last year that wasn't the case.

Granted, there's always room for bad luck in baseball over the course of a 162-game season. Rice is probably hoping for a little less of it.

"Good way to start the year," Rice said, downplaying the strong start, according to the Daily News' Gary Phillips. "Happy to take that momentum back home."

Boone on Judge

Things are a little different for Judge, unfortunately. Boone still obviously believes in his captain and superstar slugger.

"Just early in the season," Boone said, according to Phillips. "It's a small stretch. Even for him, when it's not clicking at a level like we're accustomed to seeing with him all the time, he still had a major impact in two wins offensively, coupled with all the other things he brings to the table on defense and just in here in the dugout. With Judgey, it's always a matter of time before he gets dialed in from a timing standpoint, and off we go."

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