Rice is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Mets.
With J.D. Davis joining the Yankees roster, Rice is expected to enter the strong side of a platoon with Davis at first base. Rice will take a seat Tuesday for the first time since being called up since June 18 as the Mets trot out southpaw David Peterson.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Logs first multi-hit game
Rotowire
Rice went 2-for-3 in Sunday's loss to Atlanta.
Rice was one of two Yankees with multiple hits in the contest, and it was the first multi-hit effort of his career. The 25-year-old started at first base for the fifth time in six contests since being called up, and three of those games have been against left-handed starters, against whom he's gone just 1-for-9. Rice has otherwise held his own overall in going 5-for-17 with a 3:3 BB:K, but he'll likely begin yielding some starts against southpaws to J.D. Davis, whom the Yankees acquired Sunday.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Not in Thursday's lineup
Rotowire
Rice is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Orioles.
Rice started at first base in each of his first two games after being promoted, going 2-for-7 with a walk. He'll begin this one on the bench, with DJ LeMahieu handling the cold corner and Oswaldo Cabrera the hot corner.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Added to roster, batting sixth
Rotowire
The Yankees selected Rice's contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday.
Rice earned a call-up after slashing .275/.393/.532 with 15 home runs, nine stolen bases and a 56:40 K:BB over 268 plate appearances between Double-A Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He's a catcher and a first baseman but is in line to be used mostly in the latter capacity while Anthony Rizzo (arm) is sidelined. Rice will start at first base and bat sixth in his major-league debut Tuesday versus the Orioles.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Joining big-league roster
Rotowire
The Yankees will call up Rice from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead of Tuesday's game against the Orioles to replace Anthony Rizzo (arm) on the roster, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.
Rice has played 60 games this season between Double-A Trenton and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slashing .275/.393/.532 with 15 home runs, nine stolen bases and a 56:40 K:BB over 268 plate appearances. The 25-year-old has split his time between catcher (28 starts) and first base (22 starts) and has also made an additional 10 starts at designated hitter. The Yankees could use Rice almost exclusively at first base, but for fantasy purposes, he may have catcher eligibility.
The Yankees promoted Rice from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old catching prospect will move up to the highest level of the minors after he slashed .261/.382/.511 with 12 home runs and eight stolen bases in 217 plate appearances for Somerset. Rice isn't on the Yankees' 40-man roster and looks to be behind Austin Wells, Jose Trevino and Carlos Narvaez on the organizational catching depth chart, so it may take an injury or two before Rice gets the chance to make his big-league debut.
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Yankees' Ben Rice: Massive power at Double-A
Rotowire
Rice is slashing .323/.385/.652 with 14 home runs, six steals and a 19.8 percent strikeout rate in 40 games for Double-A Somerset.
Rice, who is 24 years old and opened this season at High-A Hudson Valley, has started 19 games at catcher, 12 games at first base and eight games at designated hitter with the Patriots, so it's unclear where the Dartmouth product will fit long term for New York. Despite age/level concerns, Rice's .329 ISO combined with acceptable strikeout/contact rates makes him a worthwhile speculative play in dynasty leagues.
