Why Yankees' Ben Rice is poised for a breakout season

Heading into the 2026 season, the New York Yankees seem to have their first baseman of the future. 

Drafted in 2021 as a catcher, Ben Rice made his debut for the Yankees in 2024 as a first baseman. Throughout his time in college, the minor leagues and now his two-years with the Yankees, Rice's biggest impact has come with the bat rather than the glove. 

In 2025, Rice found himself as the team's starting DH. Once Giancarlo Stanton returned from injury, Rice's offensive prowess forced the Yankees to keep him in the lineup. 

Now entering his third season, Rice is expected to be a major contributor for the Yankees and may be on his way to a breakout season. 

New York Yankees' Ben Rice is poised for a breakout 2026 campaign

An unlucky season

Among all players last year, Rice's .255 average ranked 84th, and his .337 on-base percentage ranked 56th. Good numbers, but nothing great.

The silver lining is those stats were in his expected stats. Rice consistently made hard contact, but due to a great defensive play or an unfortunate bounce, his results weren't accurately reflected. 

Last season, Rice's expected batting average sat at .283 and his expected on-base percentage at .365. Rice's expected average and on-base percentage ranked 12th and 13th in all of the MLB, respectively. 

Rice's numbers show that even when he got out, he was still making great contact. His outs were not the result of weak contact or striking out. 

For Rice to see an improvement in his AVG and OBP, it's not a matter of making better contact, but rather the ball finding gaps in the defense. In other words, he needs more luck. 

The promising stats

Along with the expected stats, Rice performed well in two categories that bode well for his 2026 season: strikeout percentage and average exit velocity. 

Let's start with the strikeouts. Of his 467 at-bats, Rice only struck out 100 times on the season, a strikeout percentage of only 18.9%. That average had Rice about in the middle of the pack, higher than some, but still below the league average of 22.2%. 

On the opposite end of whiffing, Rice ranked as one of the league's hardest hitters when making contact. His 93.3 MPH average exit velocity ranked 11th in the MLB, and his 56.1% hard hit percentage ranked seventh. 

To sum up these two stats, Rice doesn't strike out often, and when he hits the ball, he hits it just as hard as the league's best. 

The breakout year

Over two years, Rice has shown signs of becoming an elite offensive player. His combination of low swing-and-miss numbers and hard hit contact proves that. 

What will solidify a breakout for Rice is just continued consistency. He's already proven he can hit at a high level. If he can show consistency, his stats across the board should see an increase.

That's especially true while playing in a ballpark like Yankee Stadium, where left-handed hitters are rewarded for pulling the ball hard, which is Rice's forte (44.4 pull percentage in 2025). 

Rice has the offensive skillset to be one of the American League's best first basemen with the likes of the Baltimore Orioles' Pete Alonso and the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr.