Yankees breakout candidate easing the sting of Giancarlo Stanton's injury with strong spring

Not many, if any, teams have gotten unluckier this spring injury-wise than the New York Yankees. DJ LeMahieu is banged up, and Luis Gil is probably likely to begin the year on the IL, but the most frustrating injury of all is one suffered by Giancarlo Stanton. New York's designated hitter is dealing with injuries to both of his elbows, and is expected to miss the beginning of the 2025 regular season with no timetable for his return.

When it comes to replacing Stanton in New York's Opening Day lineup, all of the realistic internal options look underwhelming. Trent Grisham can be inserted into the lineup to improve the team's defense, but his bat is subpar at best. Dominic Smith has had some success at the MLB level, but he had a 91 OPS+ in 2024, nine percent below the league average. Ben Rice had a .613 OPS in his 50-game tenure last season, beginning his MLB career on a fairly sour note.

But for as underwhelming as Rice might've been as a rookie, he has by far the most upside of the trio. With that in mind, Rice having a strong start to spring training gives Yankees fans reason to believe a Stanton injury won't be an insanely huge deal.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Ben Rice's strong spring training start is helping to ease the pain of Giancarlo Stanton's injury

Yes, spring training is just spring training, but 113.5 mph batted balls don't just come out of thin air. For reference, Corey Seager's hardest-hit ball in the 2024 season was 113.3 mph, according to Baseball Savant. Gunnar Henderson's was 113.1 mph. Francisco Lindor's was 112.7 mph. Rice's blast was hit harder than any ball those three stars hit all of last season.

It's not as if this was an outlier, either. Rice has been demolishing the baseball all spring, hitting the ball harder than he ever has.

Again, spring training results don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it's hard not to get excited about this. Rice might've struggled in his MLB stint, but he had a .968 in the Minor Leagues in 2024, showcasing some of his massive upside and becoming one of the team's most highly regarded prospects. Some bloom came off that rose based on his big-league performance, but there's still plenty of time for him to turn things around.

There's a lot more time to go this spring, but if this continues, it's hard to envision Rice not making the team and being in Stanton's DH spot on Opening Day. He might not be Stanton, but the fact that he's able to hit the ball as hard as he has gives Yankees fans hope that the team will be fine with him taking his spot at least for a fraction of the 2025 season.