TAMPA — Over the course of a protracted season within the minor leagues, Ben Rice has usually misplaced weight.
Final season, whereas getting his first style of the massive leagues throughout a summer time call-up that started on fireplace after which cooled off, Rice was truly in a position to keep it.
“Food’s pretty good [in the big leagues],” Rice stated with a chuckle.
Then he spent the offseason purposely gaining extra.
Rice confirmed as much as camp this month after placing on about 10 kilos since he was referred to as up final June, most of which seems to be muscle in his higher physique as he tried to fill out his 6-foot-2 body over the winter.
The early returns, he stated, have been encouraging.
“I think the ball’s coming off the bat harder, for sure,” Rice stated Monday morning at Steinbrenner Discipline earlier than he was purported to catch towards the Purple Sox in a recreation that received rained out at JetBlue Park. “Putting more mass on the ball, so it’s going to come off harder.”
The Yankees are hoping that is likely one of the issues that can permit Rice to have some extra endurance within the massive leagues the subsequent time he will get again, which could possibly be as early as beginning the season with them.
Rice is competing for the backup catcher job whereas additionally retaining his versatility at first base as a result of the Yankees consider in his bat a lot that the extra roles he can fill, the higher.
And if Giancarlo Stanton’s elbow points sideline him to start out the season, which appears more and more probably as he has but to renew baseball actions, then Rice’s possibilities of making the roster may enhance with extra at-bats to go round on the DH spot.
“I’m excited about Ben,” supervisor Aaron Boone stated Monday in Fort Myers. “I believe he’s going to be a extremely good hitter within the league. He’s made big strides in his physique this winter. He’s added actually good weight and power and it exhibits up in his testing. I believe he’s a man [that can] be an influence hitter within the league. He continues to impress us with the work he’s doing behind the plate.
“He could factor in a lot of ways. Certainly in the backup catching role, he could push in there. If G is down to start the season, he could figure into the DH, first base, all that kind of mix. I do think he’ll play a role. Whether it’s to start the season or not with us, I don’t know, but at some point. But I’m excited about what I’ve seen in his continued physical growth.”
Rice was listed as taking part in at 215 kilos final season however is now listed at 228.
He pointed to his work within the fitness center and consuming extra, which included a heavy dose of protein and including extra carbs and energy to his weight loss program as nicely.
To this point, it has served him nicely, particularly as he will get again to the bodily grind that comes with catching.
He went practically two and a half months with out catching final summer time – the longest he has gone with out it since his winters taking part in hockey in highschool – when he was referred to as as much as make his Yankees debut as a alternative at first base for the injured Anthony Rizzo.
Rice made an instantaneous influence, batting .294 with a .972 OPS and 4 house runs – three of them in a single recreation towards the Purple Sox on July 6 – in his first 17 video games earlier than the league adjusted to him.
The lefty hitter batted simply .112 with a .443 OPS and three house runs throughout his subsequent 32 video games earlier than he was despatched again to Triple-A on Sept. 1.
He hit 9 house runs in his last 19 video games there however caught solely three video games, spending the majority of his time at first base in case the Yankees wanted him to return again up.
“This has been the most catching I’ve done in a while, but I love it,” Rice stated of his spring coaching routine and one Grapefruit League recreation. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I started catching more. So now that I’m back into it, I’m enjoying myself.”
That stated, the 26-year-old is keen to play anyplace to get his ticket again to the most important leagues.
“It’s wherever I can get in the lineup,” Rice stated. “If it’s catching, I’m all for it. If it’s at first base, I’m all for it.”
–Extra reporting by Jon Heyman in Fort Myers
