In a season where the Yankees have missed their two most established power hitters for months at a time, Ben Rice has provided a powerful presence in their stead.
The lefty slugger crushed his 40th and 41st home runs of the season Wednesday in a 9-2 win over the Rays, joining Aaron Judge and Joe DiMaggio as the only Yankees in franchise history to hit at least 40 homers within their first three major league seasons.
“It’s a cool milestone,” Rice said. “It’s not something you go into the season aiming for. You don’t really know how it’s going to go, but as I was approaching that number, it was definitely something I was hoping to achieve.”
Rice’s production has helped the Yankees weather the extended absences of Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and with neither guaranteed to be on the roster for the AL wild-card series because of their respective injuries, the Yankees will need Rice to stay hot after breaking out of a quieter summer.
“Just a complete hitter,” Judge said. “Each year he’s gotten better, each month he’s gotten better. Even through bad slumps, he’s making the reads and making the changes he needs to [make] to get back to his normal self. So it’s been fun to watch.”
When Rice hit his 39th home run over the weekend in Arizona, Aaron Boone revealed that was his preseason prediction for the DH/first baseman.
But Rice said he knew his manager was short-changing him one from a nice round number, so when he got back to the dugout after his two long balls Wednesday, “he let me know it,” Boone said with a grin.
“I think I said, ‘Hey, there’s 40 for you,’” Rice said. “I was joking with him after the 41st one, saying, ‘Hey, thanks for inspiring me this year.’ But it’s all in good fun.”
Rice’s 41 home runs are now tied with Yordan Alvarez, Pete Alonso and Junior Caminero for the most in the American League and the third most in the majors.
Fernando Cruz is still holding out hope of pitching again this season despite being diagnosed with a partially torn UCL, a diagnosis he said Wednesday he was “not going to accept.”
The reliever threw his first bullpen session — using all four of his pitches, he said — Sunday and is slated to throw another Thursday.
“I think I’m in a really good position to be back, I will say, in the next couple weeks,” Cruz said. “But that’s not my call. I’m just getting in position to be there for my guys and perform the way I perform.”
The 36-year-old said he is “100 percent” ruling out surgery at this point and later added, “I’m going to beat this.”
Carlos Rodón was named the Most Valuable Philanthropist for September by the Players Trust, the charitable arm of the MLB Players Association.
The left-hander, who is also the Yankees nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, and his wife, Ashley, are active in supporting families facing infertility and pregnancy loss through the Carlos Rodón Foundation.
