Subscribe
Follow Us
New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice is back in the lineup on Tuesday night after not starting the last two days as he's dealt with an elbow bruise.
Rice did pinch hit on Monday night in the Yankees' loss to the Cleveland Guardians, grounding out in his only plate appearance. He will DH and lead off for New York in the second game of their three-game set at Progressive Field.
Rice sustained his injury after getting hit by two pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend. When x-rays came back negative, the team breathed a sigh of relief, knowing their slugger would be back in the lineup soon.
“It's definitely pretty sore,” Rice told reporters after the injury. “So, it's just going to be day to day.”
The second-year Yankee added that he was “definitely worried” before the x-rays.
Rice had been positively raking in the early going, batting .288 with five home runs and a .988 OPS. In 78 plate appearances, he has a hard-hit rate of 64.6%.
That's much closer to what the Yankees thought they had last year when Rice went on a home run barrage, smacking five in five games less than a month into his career. That included a three-homer game against the Boston Red Sox on July 6.
After that streak ended, however, Rice went into a massive slump. He batted .109 the rest of the season, hitting just two home runs in his last 31 games.
The positive injury news from Rice comes at a time when two other Yankees position players appear to be on their way back. DJ LeMahieu is about to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset, while Giancarlo Stanton is doing hitting and running work.
When both return, it could present a bit of a roster crunch. But with how Rice is swinging the bat, it's going to be hard to take him out of the lineup.
