Yankees’ Aaron Boone says what fans already know about Ben Rice’s monster season

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is dealing with an injury that is expected to keep him out for at least a month and possibly longer. While losing the best hitter in baseball due to injury is obviously far from ideal, the Yankees have another emerging MVP candidate on their roster. Ben Rice has performed well this season, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone recently commented on the 27-year-old’s success, via MLB Network.

“I’m not taken aback (by Rice’s success),” Boone said. “I got my first taste of him in spring training of ’24, and it was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ And then he came up in ’24 and had some success, had some struggles. But you kind of saw it last year, he puts together a really great season, hitting into famously some tough luck, too, even though still had a great year.

“And then this year, it’s gone to even another level where I think he’s putting himself in with that class of one of the best hitters in the league.”

Yankees fans are aware of what Rice is accomplishing at the plate. Rice made a significant impact in 2025, but he’s been incredible in 2026. The infielder is currently hitting .300/.393/.638 across 57 games played. He is tied with Judge and Matt Olson for the fifth most home runs in all of MLB with 17.

The Yankees are certainly going to need Ben Rice to perform at an MVP-caliber level amid Aaron Judge’s injury absence. New York will need a complete team effort of course, but Rice is set to lead the way in the lineup.

The post Yankees’ Aaron Boone says what fans already know about Ben Rice’s monster season appeared first on ClutchPoints.