· it worked brilliantly, and the yankees now have a star-caliber catcher who can anchor the position down for the next half-decade if he continues to play at this pace. The rookie is making it hard to keep him out of the lineup. · now, the 24-year-old catcher is one of the fastest risers in the yankees organization after an injury-delayed start to his season. He came up through the minor league system primarily as a catcher before serving as a first baseman and a dh the past two seasons with the yankees. The new york yankees have been without giancarlo stanton all season as he was dealing with injuries in both elbows. Why ben rice is in the mix austin wells came out of nowhere to grab the starting catcher job this season. · ben rice caught the final two innings of tuesday’s win over the royals. He’s done more than anyone expected, both with … · even if he had, with goldschmidt playing first base, austin wells locked in as the teams starting catcher, and giancarlo stanton spending most days as the dh, rice would … But soon enough, rice could begin getting occasional starts at catcher. · all things being equal, the plan seems to be for rice to start the season continuing his development as a catcher/first baseman in scranton — a plan that the fangraphs … · after only starting at designated hitter and first base through the middle of june, yankees second-year rising star ben rice (pictured top and bottom left) has started 11 of their … · at the beginning of the season, when rice was mainly getting at-bats as the yankees’ designated hitter and first baseman, catching coordinator tanner swanson said he … However, the star slugger is inching toward a return. · ben rice homers in yankees’ 6-2 win over twins as austin wells sits for second time in three games, intensifying new york’s catching competition during playoff push. He proved them wrong by improving all aspects of his receiving and becoming a starter midway through his rookie season in 2024. The new york yankees slugger is making his first career start at catcher. · ben rice will get to don the famous tools of ignorance on wednesday night. The dartmouth product was a 12th-round pick in … The yankees’ catching hierarchy: · ben rice’s hot bat and solid defense could make him the yankees’ starting catcher over austin wells.