If someone had told me before the season that a Yankees batter would post a wRC+ starting with "2" by early May, I'd have immediately guessed Aaron Judge—he's made that kind of production his trademark. Failing that, maybe Ryan McMahon, though his numbers would likely be in the 20s, not the 200s. Ben Rice wouldn't have even been my third guess. Yet here we are on May 5, and through Sunday's action, Rice leads the team with a jaw-dropping 211 wRC+.
Sure, Rice probably won't sustain this blistering pace all year. But he doesn't need to. Even if he simply matched his 2025 stats—a 133 wRC+ and 3.0 WAR—I'd be thrilled. Are my expectations too low? Maybe. But after more than a decade of underwhelming production from first base, even "2025 Ben Rice" felt like finding water in a desert.
Let that sink in: the last Yankees first baseman to post a higher wRC+ over a full season (excluding the shortened 2020 campaign) was Mark Teixeira, all the way back in 2009. Tex was the last stable presence at first base before Rice arrived. The intervening years? A parade of players who tried but couldn't hold the position down. That's not to say first base was a complete black hole for 15 years—there were bright spots here and there. But even the players who found success couldn't make it last.
To truly appreciate the Ben Rice experience, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember what it was like before our boyish-faced king took over.
2013-2016: Teixeira's Decline and Bird's Unfulfilled Promise
After signing an eight-year, $180 million contract in the 2008-09 offseason, Mark Teixeira delivered in a big way during the first half of that deal. Following a spectacular 2009 season that included a World Series ring and a second-place MVP finish, Teixeira crushed 96 home runs and amassed 10.4 WAR from 2010 to 2012. But then, the wheels started to come off.
Injuries and age began to take their toll. Teixeira's production dipped, and the Yankees found themselves searching for answers at first base. Enter Greg Bird, a prospect who arrived with sky-high expectations. Bird showed flashes of brilliance—remember his 2015 playoff heroics?—but injuries and inconsistency kept him from realizing his full potential. His promise went unmet, leaving a void that the Yankees struggled to fill.
The Rise of Luke Voit
Just when it seemed first base was a lost cause, Luke Voit emerged from relative obscurity. Acquired in a 2018 trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, Voit burst onto the scene with a powerful bat and a personality that endeared him to fans. He led the league in home runs in 2020 and provided a much-needed spark. But even Voit couldn't sustain that level of success, and injuries eventually derailed his tenure with the Yankees.
From Teixeira's fall to Bird's unmet promise and Voit's rise and fade, the first base position has been a revolving door of hope and disappointment. That's what makes Ben Rice's emergence so special. He's not just a flash in the pan—he's the first real, sustained answer the Yankees have had at first base in over a decade. And for that, we should all be grateful.