Ben Rice stood on deck.
When the 2026 MLB season ended for the New York Yankees, Rice was a short stroll from home plate with the guys in pinstripes trailing by just a single run, but there was nothing he could do.
The most painful part of this fact: It was avoidable.
The Yankees had been hitting Rice in the leadoff spot recently. It’s unconventional, but it comes with the chance that at the end of a game, at least a handful of times each year, that player will get one additional at bat — and you never know when that at bat might matter.
On Wednesday night, in ALDS Game 3, facing a 2-0 series deficit to the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-five, the Yankees batted Rice in the No. 2 spot.
Trent Grisham hit leadoff, and he flailed at strike three to end the Yankees’ season.
Rice could do nothing but watch.
An Odd Change
Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t have some great reason for the switch. He basically said it felt like the thing he should try.
And to be fair, trying something was a reasonable idea — the Yankees had been one-hit in Game 1 of the series, then upped the tally to three hits in Game 2. Something had to give.
If the game ended differently, or if Grisham had actually accomplished anything at the plate in Game 3, maybe none of this is a discussion.
But baseball is a long season, decided in small-sample size series. The only thing a team can really do is trust its process.
Sure, the “Trust The Process” 76ers became a bit of a laughing stock, but there was a point there. In a long season, or even over multiple seasons, you have to take the right approach. It won’t always work on an individual game basis, but over time, if you’re actually doing the right thing, it should pay off more often than not.
Back to Ben Rice
It looks so obvious in retrospect. That’s part of the point to be made here.
Modern lineup construction has turned conventional baseball wisdom on its head.
It used to be that the best hitter batted third, followed by the best power hitter fourth.
Now, most teams try to have their best hitter — who is often the same as their best power hitter — bat second.
Some teams will hit their most dangerous slugger first, as the Yankees were recently doing with Rice or as the Phillies have done with Kyle Schwarber.
Those Phillies, managed by Don Mattingly, actually hit their best contact hitter Luis Arraez in the cleanup spot, even though he has little power at all. The idea was that with the stars in front of him — Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper — Arraez’s contact skills would get baserunners home.
The most problematic part here for the Yankees is that they changed. They had pretty logical process in batting Rice leadoff. They wavered in one game, and while vibes often inform decisions, they aren’t often good process.
The Yankees reacted to small-sample size information, and they bumped Rice to what was a less optimal lineup spot.
And so their best hitter, at least when considering that Aaron Judge didn’t play in the playoffs due to injury, ended the season standing on deck.
Look Where Yankees’ Ben Rice Ended Up To Believe In Modern Lineup Construction