The New York Yankees have built their early 2025 identity around a lefty-heavy offensive punch. And so far, it’s worked out just fine. But even the best strategies eventually require a counterpunch—and in the Yankees’ case, that means finding a right-handed power bat to balance out the equation.
Ben Rice Holding It Down Early
Let’s start with Rice, who’s been one of the Yankees’ most pleasant early-season surprises.
The 26-year-old lefty has stepped into the DH spot with confidence, slugging .385/.429/923 over his first five games. That line includes two home runs, a .538 ISO, and a 294 wRC+, meaning he’s been nearly three times more productive than the average major leaguer. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but the underlying numbers back up the pop.
His average exit velocity is up to 99.2 mph—an increase of over nine miles per hour compared to last year. He’s also barreling 50% of the balls he makes contact with and hitting them at a 20.4° launch angle, ideal for power. Against right-handed pitching, he’s been especially lethal, and that’s likely where the Yankees want to keep him.
Stanton’s Role Still Matters
While Rice is proving his worth, Stanton remains the looming figure in the background.
Stanton’s recovery from dual elbow issues has been slow but encouraging. He’s resumed light baseball activity and responded well to PRP injections, finally swinging the bat again. Manager Aaron Boone remains hopeful that Stanton will return by the second half of the season, just in time for a postseason push.
When healthy, Stanton still packs thunder. He hit 27 home runs in 114 games last season and absolutely tore the cover off the ball in the playoffs, slashing .273/.339/.709 with seven homers in just 14 games. Even at 35, he remains one of the game’s most intimidating right-handed sluggers.
A Perfect DH Timeshare?
The Yankees are a team built on matchups. And with the rest of the lineup stacked with lefties—Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm, Austin Wells, Ben Rice—it’s not hard to see why opposing managers have turned to late-game lefty relievers.
This is where the Stanton-Rice platoon becomes an elegant solution.
Rice can own right-handed pitching and hold down the majority of DH starts. When a lefty is on the mound, or a tough southpaw enters late, Stanton becomes the weapon off the bench—ready to do what he’s done so many times before: flip a game with one swing.
It also helps that neither Rice nor Stanton are strong defensive players, which makes the DH slot the best place to maximize both bats without sacrificing run prevention.
Built for October
The Yankees’ depth has taken a hit early in the season due to injuries, and the lineup still lacks consistent right-handed pop outside of Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt.
But once Stanton is healthy, the Yankees could have one of the more strategic DH combinations in the league. Platooning Rice and Stanton based on pitcher handedness gives manager Aaron Boone a clean solution to an early-season imbalance—and possibly one of the most productive designated hitter spots in all of baseball.
