Who Is Ben Rice? Everything to Know About the Rising Star Dominating Today’s Headlines

TORONTO — Ben Rice didn’t just silence Rogers Centre on Monday night—he electrified the entire baseball internet. In the top of the ninth, the New York Yankees’ rookie first baseman launched a 96.9 mph Jeff Hoffman fastball 389 feet to right-center, flipping a 4-4 tie into a 5-4 Yankees lead and vaulting his name into the day’s top searches. The blast—clocked at 107.1 mph off the bat and carrying a majestic 35-degree launch angle—was Rice’s 15th homer in only 35 big-league games, an eye-popping total for a player who debuted June 18. It capped a three-hit night and underscored why manager Aaron Boone has kept the Dartmouth product in the heart of the order despite a modest .235 batting average and 31 RBI entering play. More importantly, the swing tightened an AL East race that had seemed to be slipping away. Toronto arrived with a four-game cushion, but Rice’s late-game heroics cut the deficit to three and handed New York its seventh win in nine contests. “Every game feels like October right now,” Boone said post-game. “Ben’s been in the organization for four years, but he plays like he’s been here forever.” Rice’s meteoric rise began with a 12th-round draft selection in 2021. Stellar minor-league numbers (.943 OPS across three levels in 2024) forced the Yankees’ hand when Anthony Rizzo hit the injured list this spring. Since getting the call, Rice has slugged .467 and posted an .795 OPS—both top-five among AL rookies—with particularly loud damage against four-seamers (.619 SLG). The at-bat everyone’s replaying exemplifies his scouting report: short, explosive path, advanced strike-zone judgment, and all-fields power. After fouling off a high heater, Rice reset, anticipated another fastball and didn’t miss. The crowd gasped; Yankee dugout erupted; social feeds detonated. Within minutes, “Ben Rice” trended alongside “Yankees comeback” and “Rogers Centre silence.” Beyond the viral moment, the homer ratcheted up Rookie of the Year chatter. Rice is pacing AL rookies in home runs despite logging barely half the plate appearances of his competitors. Defensive metrics at first base have also graded out positively, and Boone hinted he’ll see reps behind the plate in September, his college position, to keep the bat active once Rizzo returns. For a club chasing its first division crown since 2022, another reliable left-handed bat is transformative—particularly in the Bronx’s short-porch confines. Yankee veterans already see the ripple effect. “Pitchers can’t pitch around Judge and Soto when Ben’s lurking,” Giancarlo Stanton noted. Rice, typically understated, framed it more simply: “I’m just trying to win pitch-by-pitch. Nights like this make all the bus rides worth it.” With one swing, a lesser-known 26-year-old became appointment viewing and injected fresh adrenaline into baseball’s marquee rivalry. If the search-engine surge is any indication, “Ben Rice” is a name fans will be typing—and pitchers will be game-planning—well beyond July.