When the Yankees used the 361st overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft on little-known Dartmouth catcher Ben Rice, I don’t know if they envisioned an elite left-handed slugger as the outcome.
No one believed his median outcome was even making it to the Major Leagues, as misfortune and injuries continued to eat into any playing time he could get
He missed two years of college baseball due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as Ivy League schools also closed down their sports schedule for the 2021 season.
When he opened his age-24 season, Rice was still in Single-A, there were plenty of signs that he wouldn’t become a big leaguer, and yet he’s been one of the most productive hitters in baseball.
Sporting a wRC+ in the top 25 among qualified hitters and one of the best hitting profiles in the game, Ben Rice isn’t just a fun young player on the Yankees, he’s an emerging star.
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Why Ben Rice Is the Yankees’ Next Homegrown Star Hitter
Ben Rice has displayed the kind of hitting profile that puts him in rareified air, and it starts with his elite raw power which has translated into a high SLG%.
He’s in the 98th Percentile in Average Exit Velocity, the 98th Percentile in Hard-Hit%, and the 95th Percentile in Barrel%, ranking among the best power hitters in the game.
The lefty swinging Rice has a higher Barrel% than Rafael Devers with a higher Avg EV than Pete Alonso, his ability to impart damage on the ball when he makes contact is truly an outlier skill.
He couples this with a ton of pull-side contact in the air, having an above-average AIR% (59.4%) and an elite Pull AIR% (26.7%), which create the kind of spray chart that could result in a 35 HR season.
xwOBACON is a metric that serves as an all-in-one contact quality evaluator, and Ben Rice is ninth in baseball in that metric (.491), ahead of Cal Raleigh and Corey Seager.
BENJAMIN. RICE.
HE IS ON FIRE.pic.twitter.com/effYzq0GDz
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) August 27, 2025
What makes his elite contact quality and exit velocity data even more unbelievable are his bat-to-ball skills, which are unique for a hitter with his power.
Ben Rice is in the 60th Percentile in Whiff%, and is tied with Juan Soto for the lowest Whiff% among hitters who have a Barrel% >= 14%.
In fact, you can look at the former outfielder for the Yankees and draw some shocking comparisons in how well they balance contact quantity with contact quality:
Ben Rice hits the ball almost as hard as Juan Soto does while having the exact same Whiff%, falling short of the unreal patience that makes the Mets’ superstar a terrifying hitter.
In a sense, Ben Rice has been a knock-off version of Juan Soto in 2025, and that kind of hitter could produce elite value at the plate if the luck continues evening out.
Only Rice and Soto have a Barrel% above 14% and a Whiff% below 23% in 2025, and anytime you’re in the same company as a future Hall of Famer, that’s pretty good.
We’re starting to see the luck even out for Ben Rice, who has a 158 wRC+ and .935 OPS over his last 48 games, and all the data suggests he could maintain that kind of production.
His .421 xwOBA is surpassed by only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and Shohei Ohtani, and if his luck continues to even out, we could be looking at a Silver Slugger winner down the road.
Ben Rice is on-pace to be one of just eight hitters with an xwOBA >= .420 at age 26 or younger, joining a group that includes six MVP winners.
He’s also seeing his numbers against lefties improve, sporting a 107 wRC+ and .355 xwOBA, becoming more of a threat in those matchups and worth of playing time in those scenarios.
The Yankees don’t just have a good hitter; they have someone capable of anchoring the middle of their lineup for years to come.
This is a special offensive talent who is on fire right now, and if he can stay red-hot, the offense could run through the American League in the postseason.