MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Judge’s return has eased the pressure on Ben Rice to carry the Yankees’ offense by himself.
Now, Rice is filling a different high-profile job: setting the tone from the leadoff spot — and looking increasingly dangerous doing it.
In recent weeks, Rice has begun to resemble the force who drew comparisons to Judge during the opening months of the season. His resurgence has arrived at an ideal moment for the Yankees, with the regular-season race tightening and the club eyeing a postseason run.
Rice went 2-for-3 with a walk in the Yankees’ 8-3 series-opening victory over the Twins, delivering the go-ahead two-run hit in the eighth inning. Since Aug. 19, he has reached base at least twice in 16 of 23 games while batting .333 with 14 RBIs. He has also homered three times over his last nine contests.
The Yankees moved Rice into the everyday leadoff role against right-handed pitching on Aug. 31, replacing Trent Grisham. With his ability to get on base and supply power, Rice appears positioned to keep that assignment as October approaches.
“I think he went through a stretch where he really started to square up a lot of balls,” manager Aaron Boone said before Monday’s game. “Then, coming off that, the walks started showing up. I think he’s doing a really good job controlling the strike zone, which is usually something he does well. He’s had some stretches this year where that hasn’t been the case, but right now, I feel like he’s really controlling the zone. And, obviously, there’s always the threat of power in there.
“Benny seems to be in a really good place right now, hopefully at exactly the right time to be at his best.”
Rice went deep in consecutive games against the Mets over the weekend, including a leadoff homer on Sunday. That gave him 38 home runs this season, tying Astros slugger and AL MVP favorite Yordan Alvarez for second in the American League. Only Rays standout Junior Caminero has more.
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His production has been especially important in a Yankees season shaped by Judge’s absence of more than three months, even though Rice endured a dip while the star outfielder was sidelined.
When Judge last played on May 31 before testing revealed a broken rib, Rice was hitting .306 with a 1.056 OPS and 17 home runs in 54 games. Over the next 66 games, the first baseman/designated hitter batted .204 with a .727 OPS and 16 homers. A largely productive July kept that stretch from looking worse, as opposing teams appeared more willing to pitch Rice carefully without having to account for Judge batting immediately before or after him.
But around mid-August, Rice began to catch fire again, which along with Grisham’s struggles bumped him back into the leadoff spot, where he has spent stretches over the last three years (10 times in 2024, 21 in 2025 and Monday marking his 25th time there in 2026).
“I love it,” Judge said. “Great at-bats, he can pop a homer like he did [Sunday] to start off the game for us, or he’s going to give you a 9-, 10-pitch at-bat. When he’s leading off like that, I want him getting the most at-bats. It’s just fun to see him develop this whole year, going from being a 4-hitter, 3-hitter, 2-hitter, leadoff guy for us. … I love having him hit in front of me.”
If the Yankees can get Judge and Rice clicking at the right time heading into the playoffs — along with Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr. bringing the more contact-oriented approach with thump in the top half of the lineup — it will give them a formidable top four.
“Last year, [Rice] really came of age at this level and established himself as a force, as someone to be reckoned with,” Boone said. “Then this year, I think has ratcheted it up even more and become one of the better hitters in the game. He’s obviously had a great season on balance. I think he’s done a great job of, he’s obviously had some real hot stretches. Had a stretch where he struggled a little bit, but kind of weathered that storm too.”