Ben Rice
- The Yankees’ roster as it stands starts at 1B · 575 PA · 2.9 WAR in the role
- Trade read Unlikely to be traded: NYY expects to contend (61% playoff odds) and he’s a regular.
Hitting · 2026 percentiles
vs. MLB hitters with 300+ PA · 664 PA
Platoon splits · swing path
By pitcher handedness
| vs | PA | wOBA | xwOBA | K% | BB% | Chase | Decisions | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | 221 | .341 | .340 | 27% | 8% | 29% | −0.18 | +2.88 |
| RHP | 443 | .413 | .397 | 23% | 14% | 23% | +0.97 | +2.96 |
- Attack angle
- 13.2° (55% in 5–20°)
- Attack direction
- −4.4°
- Swing length
- 7.7 ft
- Fast-swing rate
- 22%
- Pull-air %
- 20.5%
- Hard-hit %
- 48.5%
- Slash · wRC+
- .264/.363/.534 · 149
Zone map · 2026
Where he does damage, and where to pitch him
Does the most damage middle-middle (+4.8 vs. league per 100; 2.6 standard errors on 156 pitches, inside the noise for the best of nine cells).
Weakest down and in (−0.9), but only 0.4 standard errors from average on 108 pitches: no in-zone spot to attack yet.
Runs per 100 pitches vs. an average LHB: better · worse. Catcher’s view · 2,423 pitches · faded cells are within one standard error of average. A spot is called only when it is farther from average than the best or worst of nine average cells gets 95% of the time (set from the league’s own pitches: about 3 standard errors above, 2 below).
Most similar hitters
Swings like Rice: bat path, contact quality and approach
| Similarity | Player | xwOBA | ’26 WAR | ’27 proj | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | Bryce Eldridge SF · ’04 | .359 | 1.8 | 1.8 | Pre-arb |
| 60 | Heriberto Hernández MIA · ’99 | .348 | 1.7 | 1.6 | Pre-arb |
| 56 | Miguel Vargas CWS · ’99 | .379 | 5.3 | 2.5 | Arb |
| 54 | Roman Anthony BOS · ’04 | .341 | 0.7 | 2.1 | Signed $4.6M |
| 53 | Bryan Reynolds PIT · ’95 | .355 | 2.9 | 1.2 | Signed $15.3M |
Nearest neighbours on bat speed, swing length, attack angle, squared-up and blast rates, EV90, barrels, pull-air, chase, zone contact, K% and BB%. 2026 regulars only.
Fielding
2027 rating at every position he can play · OAA by position · range by direction · tools. Same engine as the Fielding Lab and the Winter Plan.
| Season | Pos | OAA | Range | Arm, DP | Runs | Batters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1B | −6 | −4 | 0.0 | −4.0 | 1,993 |
| 2025 | 1B | 0 | 0 | −0.9 | −0.9 | 1,565 |
| 2024 | 1B | 0 | 0 | +2.4 | +2.4 | 1,494 |
Runs = range plus his arm and double-play runs spread over his positions by outs (Fielding Run Value, from 2023): what the rating counts.
At 1B in 2026, the biggest loss came toward 3B line (−3 outs): a coaching target.
Tools (percentile; arm among 1Bs)| Season | Zone | Balls | Outs vs. exp. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1B | 115 | −0.7 |
| 2025 | 1B | 86 | +3.3 |
| 2024 | 1B | 74 | +1.6 |
The zone rating counts every ball hit to his part of the field while he played there, his club’s positioning included; Savant OAA uses his actual starting spot and is the better individual grade. They agree best in the outfield. See the model card.
Contract & projection
Club control (RosterResource) · Keystone projected WAR
* projected arbitration or minimum salary. Contract Studio →
ABS challenges · 2026
Baseball Savant