Reinforcements have arrived for the New York Yankees.
On Sunday morning, The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner was the first to report that a locker space had been made for popular Yankees’ rookie Ben Rice. The Yankees would later confirm the 25-year-old’s promotion from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, with reliever Scott Effross sent down as the corresponding move; less than 24 hours after an injury to Anthony Rizzo, Rice is the starting first baseman in game 162 of the regular season.
Rice struggled at the plate in the majors outside of a three-homer game on July 6 against the Boston Red Sox, but has put up solid numbers at Triple-A this year. In 30 games with the RailRiders, Rice slashed .294/.428/.661 with a 1.088 OPS.
The Rice promotion does not necessarily mean that Yankees manager Aaron Boone is turning to the rookie for the playoffs, however. According to Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, Boone has also mentioned Oswaldo Cabrera, Trent Grisham, and even Jon Berti as potential fill-ins while Rizzo is out; Boone also was non-committal when asked if injured Yankee DJ LeMahieu would be considered.
Additionally, despite fracturing two fingers on his right hand, the Yankees are leaving Rizzo on the active roster for the ALDS, which could be a sign that the veteran is planning to play through the pain. Despite enduring a poor offensive season, the 35-year-old is New York’s best defensive first baseman and an important veteran presence in the clubhouse.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Boone was hopeful that Rizzo would miss minimal time with the injury.
“It doesn’t totally rule him out,” Boone said. “It’s a pain tolerance thing. We’ll see as the days unfold here of what we have.”
In the meantime, Rice will be part of a collective effort at first base until Rizzo is able to return.
