The Aporia · Ben Rice joins joins exclusive Yankees 40-homer club with huge night

Greg Joyce

53 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Boone also dropped Spencer Jones — the Yankees cleanup hitter in each of the prior three playoff games — down to batting eighth in the lineup, the lowest he has hit against a right-hander since May 19 (facing Dylan Cease).

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Yankees’ Austin Wells struggles in Game 3 after getting moved up in lineup

🔮 He may have more talent and tools than almost any other player on the roster, most notably his speed, athleticism and power, but the Yankees have not been able to get that out of him regularly enough, especially this year.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s maddening Yankees career could end on bench

🔮 McMahon has not brought much offensively and then committed a fielding error on the first ball put in play in the bottom of the first inning on Saturday night at Tropicana Field, the first of four the Yankees would make in Game 2.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Desperate Yankees shake up ALDS Game 3 lineup with season on the line

🔮 “So there would’ve been a right-hander I would have used at some point had we gotten runners on base, but by the time he was in the game it was 5-1.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Why Aaron Boone stuck with lefty hitters in ugly Game 2 loss

🔮 The Yankees will try to become the first team to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series since they did it in the 2017 ALDS against Cleveland.

2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Yankees road to an ALDS comeback will take a village — and a cleaner effort

🔮 When the division series makes its way to The Bronx, Max Fried will get the ball first for the Yankees.

2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Yankees reveal pitching plan for Game 3 and potentially beyond

🔮 The Yankees were technically off Sunday, but the players who wanted to get their work in ahead of Game 2 of the ALDS went to their spring training home instead of the field where they will play Monday night.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · How the Yankees remained busy in their day off after ALDS Game 1 loss

🔮 Were the 18 runs on 26 hits the Yankees exploded for in their wild-card series proof they could survive postseason games without Aaron Judge, or just the result of feasting on a Red Sox bullpen after Tracy pulled his starter early in both games?

2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Drew Rasmussen’s gem only magnified worrisome Yankees trend that needs fixing in Game 2

🔮 The Yankees left Weathers off their roster for the wild-card series to give him more time to build up, hoping it would allow him to be available more often in the ALDS.

2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Giancarlo Stanton strikes out in first Yankees at-bat in over five months — why Aaron Boone ‘liked what I saw’

🔮 In all likelihood, it would have been just as a pinch hitter, possibly with a chance to be a full player later in the best-of-five series against the Rays if his right calf allowed.

2026-10-03 · assertive framing · Aaron Boone explains why leaving Aaron Judge off ALDS roster was ‘right decision’

Also by Greg Joyce

Yankees’ Austin Wells struggles in Game 3 after getting moved up in lineup

2026-10-08 · New York Post

Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s maddening Yankees career could end on bench

2026-10-08 · New York Post

Desperate Yankees shake up ALDS Game 3 lineup with season on the line

2026-10-07 · New York Post

Why Aaron Boone stuck with lefty hitters in ugly Game 2 loss

2026-10-07 · New York Post

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 53 articles by Greg Joyce →

Topics

Arizona Post Sports+ for Rays Yankees the American League

Subjects

Rice PERSON · 7× Yankees ORG · 7× Judge PERSON · 2× Aaron Judge PERSON · 1× Ben Rice PERSON · 1× Giancarlo Stanton PERSON · 1× Greg Joyce PERSON · 1× Joe DiMaggio PERSON · 1× Post Sports+ for ORG · 1× Rays ORG · 1×

Narrative

Rice’s production has helped the Yankees weather the extended absences of Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and with neither guaranteed to be on the roster for the AL wild-card series because of their respective injuries, the Yankees will need Rice to stay hot after breaking out of a quieter summer.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-24

🔮 Rice’s production has helped the Yankees weather the extended absences of Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and with neither guaranteed to be on the roster for the AL wild-card series because of their respective injuries, the Yankees will need Rice to stay hot after breaking out of a quieter summer.

2026-09-24 · New York Post

Ben Rice joins joins exclusive Yankees 40-homer club with huge night · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 0 hedged)

In a season where the Yankees have missed their two most established power hitters for months at a time, Ben Rice has provided a powerful presence in their stead. asserted

Rice → miss → stead

The lefty slugger crushed his 40th and 41st home runs of the season Wednesday in a 9-2 win over the Rays, joining Aaron Judge and Joe DiMaggio as the only Yankees in franchise history to hit at least 40 homers within their first three major league seasons. asserted

slugger → crush → seasons

’s a cool milestone,” Rice said. asserted

Rice → ’ → ?

“It’s not something you go into the season aiming for. asserted

you → ’ → season

You don’t really know how it’s going to go, but as I was approaching that number, it was definitely something I was hoping to achieve.” asserted

I → know → number

Rice → help → summer

“Just a complete hitter,” Judge said. asserted

Judge → say → ?

“Each year he’s gotten better, each month he’s gotten better. asserted

he → get → ?

Even through bad slumps, he’s making the reads and making the changes he needs to [make] to get back to his normal self. asserted

he → make → self

So it’s been fun to watch.” asserted

it → watch → ?

When Rice hit his 39th home run over the weekend in Arizona, Aaron Boone revealed that was his preseason prediction for the DH/first baseman. asserted

that → hit → baseman

But Rice said he knew his manager was short-changing him one from a nice round number, so when he got back to the dugout after his two long balls Wednesday, “he let me know it,” Boone said with a grin. asserted

Boone → say → grin

“I think I said, ‘Hey, there’s 40 for you,’” Rice said. asserted

Rice → think → you

“I was joking with him after the 41st one, saying, ‘Hey, thanks for inspiring me this year.’ asserted

I → joke → me

But it’s all in good fun.” asserted

it → ’ → fun

Rice’s 41 home runs are now tied with Yordan Alvarez, Pete Alonso and Junior Caminero for the most in the American League and the third most in the majors. asserted

runs → tie → majors

Fernando Cruz is still holding out hope of pitching again this season despite being diagnosed with a partially torn UCL, a diagnosis he said Wednesday he was “not going to accept.” asserted

he → hold → UCL

The reliever threw his first bullpen session — using all four of his pitches, he said — Sunday and is slated to throw another Thursday. asserted

he → throw → another

“I think I’m in a really good position to be back, I will say, in the next couple weeks,” Cruz said. asserted

Cruz → think → weeks

“But that’s not my call. asserted

that → ’ → ?

I’m just getting in position to be there for my guys and perform the way I perform.” asserted

I → get → guys

The 36-year-old said he is “100 percent” ruling out surgery at this point and later added, “I’m going to beat this.” asserted

I → say → this

Carlos Rodón was named the Most Valuable Philanthropist for September by the Players Trust, the charitable arm of the MLB Players Association. asserted

Rodón → name → Association

The left-hander, who is also the Yankees nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, and his wife, Ashley, are active in supporting families facing infertility and pregnancy loss through the Carlos Rodón Foundation. asserted

who → support → Foundation

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Ben Rice joins joins exclusive Yankees 40-homer club with huge night

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