Ben Rice Hits 26 Homers After Yankees Drafted Him 363rd

ben rice turned a 363rd overall pick into one of the Yankees’ most productive bats in 2025. He finished with 26 home runs and a.836 OPS after being drafted 363rd overall in 2021.

Rice and the Yankees

The Yankees took Rice in round 12 of the 2021 MLB draft out of Dartmouth College, and he came in as a catcher. By 2025, he was sharing first base with Paul Goldschmidt, a shift that put his bat in the lineup more often than his original position would have.

That path was not straight. Rice played in low-A Tampa in 2022, reached AA Somerset by the end of 2023, then spent 49 more days in New Jersey before a month-long stint in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

June 2024 Opening

His major league opening arrived on June 18, 2024, two days after Anthony Rizzo suffered an injury that sidelined him for multiple months. Rice singled in his MLB debut, then hit his first home run 16 days later.

Two days after that first homer, he added three more against the Boston Red Sox. In 50 games that season, he finished with a.613 OPS and seven home runs, and he was not rostered for the Yankees’ World Series run.

2025 Production

Rice’s 2025 numbers were a clear jump. His.836 OPS ranked 27th among 145 qualified hitters, his.358 wOBA ranked 26th, and his expected numbers backed it up with a.922 xOPS and a.401 xwOBA.

The Yankees still mixed his playing time with Goldschmidt because they felt Rice was not good enough to face lefties yet. Even with that platoon, he became a legitimate middle-order threat and one of the team’s best hitters over the full season.