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Yankees’ Aaron Boone uses pinch-hitting defense for starting Ben Rice on the bench
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- Yankees’ Aaron Boone uses pinch-hitting defense for starting Ben Rice on the bench
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The New York Yankees host the Los Angeles Angels for the second game of a four-game set in The Bronx on Tuesday. In the first game, the Bombers won 11-10 on a walk-off wild pitch in a bizarre game. The Yankees sat Ben Rice to start that game, and Aaron Boone has done that again on Tuesday. He spoke with the media before the game, using pinch-hitting as the excuse for starting the 27-year-old on the bench.
"So, my plan going into this series was to have Ben play today," Boone said. "But I've just been able to so aggressively use Benny. In the last two games, he's sat against a lefty; he's got five at-bats, a homer, a walk, [and] a single. I've been able to kinda fire him at the most important part, and that might be early in the game."
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Boone continued, "He is going to play against lefties. And we're in a unique spot where [ Paul Goldschmidt ], his superpower at this point in his career, is that he is really great against left-handed pitching, and has been outstanding so far to start the year. And I'm not ready to catch Benny yet. I'd put him in a game, but I'm not ready to go five, seven innings with him yet."
Rice leads the majors in on-base percentage and OPS, thanks to ten extra-base hits in 61 plate appearances. He pinch-hit for Amed Rosario in the fifth inning on Monday, smacking a single and scoring a run. Boone says he can use Rice in a similar spot again on Tuesday night.
Rice has been sheltered in his career against left-handed pitching, a fact that Alex Cora used to his advantage in the Wild Card series last year . Getting Rice reps is important, but Goldschmidt needs to be warm as well. It is early in the season, but this is a concerning trend for the Yankees.
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