Ben Rice may be an MVP long shot right now. But he has a splendid chance of overcoming Yordan Alvarez over the final two months.
The New York Yankees first baseman could still claim the award as the most valuable player to a likely playoff team amid an array of injuries.
Alvarez, the Houston Astros slugger, is the overwhelming betting favorite to win the award, since he leads the AL in all three Triple Crown stats as of July 28. Rice has the third-shortest odds, since Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays sits second.
But here are the three reasons the Yankees All-Star can ascend to AL MVP or even get in the race over the season’s final two months.
Ben Rice’s League Ranking in Triple Crown Stats
GettyBen Rice was named an All-Star starter for the American League this year.
Rice has been batting second for months, since Aaron Judge went down due to a rib injury May 31. But he was the Yankees’ most important hitter even before Judge went down, since he was floated as an AL MVP candidate in May.
Rice is second in the AL in homers (31) and RBIs (73) entering play Tuesday. He ranks fourth in the league in runs scored (69).
He ranks 18th in the American League in batting average (.275) but is second in OPS (.947), which has become a more valuable stat than batting average over the past five years.
But Rice leads the Yankees in almost every offensive category. They still have the second-best record in the AL, the league’s best run differential (plus-88) and have scored the third-most runs in the AL.
Injuries to Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger
GettyAaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton each has missed substantial time for the Yankees this season.
This is perhaps the most important factor in Rice’s MVP candidacy. Judge has won the MVP in three of the past four seasons, and the only year he did not win the award (2023) he missed about eight weeks due to injury.
But Judge has missed two months already this season and is showing no signs of coming back soon. Giancarlo Stanton, an equally formidable bat, hasn’t played since late April and has no timetable to return either.
But Rice’s candidacy could get an even-bigger boost due to Cody Bellinger’s hamstring injury, which he sustained against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Bellinger will miss four to six weeks with a Grade 2 strain, leaving the Yankees without another All-Star.
Judge’s injury alone was enough to crater the Yankees’ playoff hopes in 2023, since they went 82-80 that year. But with Bellinger and Stanton also missing, Rice’s contributions are about to become even more important.
The Yankees’ Chase for First Place in the AL East
GettyBen Rice and the Yankees are trying to chase down the first-place Rays in the AL East.
The Yankees are trying to chase down the Rays for the AL East championship and No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Voters take the importance of each player’s at-bats into account, barring a historically great year like the one Alvarez is having. The Astros (53-55) are in the hunt in the atrocious AL West, sitting two games back of the Texas Rangers for the division lead and two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild-card spot.
But if the Astros fall out of the hunt, or if Rice carries the Yankees offense to the East title, he’ll overtake both Alvarez and Caminero.
Of course, Caminero has the potential to do that too for the surprising Rays, but he has just one home run and he has an .812 OPS in 11 second-half games after posting a .927 mark in the first half.
3 Reasons Why Ben Rice is an AL MVP Dark Horse for the Yankees