Ben Rice crushed two home runs against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, capping a four-game series with four dingers and nine RBI to carry the Yankees to a 12-4 win. With the Home Run Derby on July 13 now four days away, Rice arrives at the event as one of the most dangerous power bats in the field.
Rice is now sitting at 28 home runs on the season, second in the AL, and he has already surpassed his entire 2025 output – which came across 138 games – with weeks remaining before the All-Star break. The timing of this surge is impossible to ignore.
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Rice’s Two-Homer Game – What the Numbers Actually Show
Thursday’s series finale against the Rays wasn’t just a good game for Rice – it was a statement. He went deep twice, finished the four-game set 7-for-16 with four home runs and nine RBI, and personally helped New York secure a series split in a divisional road trip that could have gone sideways.
The sequence in Thursday’s game itself carried extra drama. Junior Caminero – one of Rice’s confirmed Derby competitors – hit a home run that briefly pushed him to 27 homers, pulling even with Rice momentarily.
Rice responded two innings later with his first shot of the day, then added a second to pull back ahead to 28. That back-and-forth preview of the Derby rivalry couldn’t have been scripted better.
Rice spoke plainly after the game about his approach. “Just sticking with it overall,” he said. “Like I’ve said in the past, it’s such a long year. You’re bound to go through the ups and downs.
Just leaning on the guys in the clubhouse and the locker room and go out here and just have an approach, stick to it, be convicted in it and hopefully good things will happen.” The results speak loudly enough on their own. Full stop.
Derby Context – Rice and Caminero Are the Top Two Power Bats in the Field
Among the confirmed Derby participants heading into July 13, Rice and Caminero lead the field in total home runs at 28 and 27 respectively. That makes them the two most productive sluggers in the event by the only metric that matters in a home run competition – actual home run production.
Caminero has a meaningful edge in one area: experience. Per SNY’s coverage, he was a surprise runner-up in last year’s Derby, which means the spotlight pressure isn’t new to him.
Rice is making his first Derby appearance, and how he handles the format’s unique rhythm – pitch selection, crowd noise, sustained focus through multiple rounds – is the one legitimate question mark entering the event.
What Rice does have is undeniable momentum. He has now homered in back-to-back games since committing to the Derby on Tuesday, hitting three home runs across those two contests alone.
That kind of sustained power output heading into the event isn’t a coincidence – it’s a hitter locked in. Full stop.
Yankees AL East Implications – Rice Is Carrying the Lineup While Judge Is Out
Aaron Judge remains sidelined with a fractured rib and will undergo re-imaging during the All-Star break, leaving Rice as the unquestioned offensive centerpiece of this Yankees lineup right now.
The fact that New York is staying competitive in that environment reflects how dramatically Rice’s emergence has changed the team’s offensive ceiling.
Rice’s 28 home runs already exceed his full 2025 breakout total by two, and the Yankees have found a way to put up 12 runs on 14 hits in a road series finale despite playing without their franchise cornerstone.
As this site’s Yankees lineup and trade deadline coverage documents, the club’s offensive identity and depth decisions this summer are being shaped by exactly this kind of prospect-driven production from Rice.
Rice framed the series split correctly after Thursday’s game. “It’s big time. It’s big for the morale heading into this last series before the break,” he said. “Just kinda getting everyone rolling again and firing on all cylinders feels good.” That framing tracks – as this site’s Yankees-Rays series coverage documents, New York needed a strong finish in Tampa after dropping games earlier in the set, and Rice delivered it.
Fantasy Managers – What Ben Rice’s Power Surge Changes for Your Roster
Fantasy managers who are still sleeping on Ben Rice at this point have run out of excuses. 28 home runs before the All-Star break, second in the AL, and surpassing his own breakout season totals – this is a must-start in every format, period.
The Derby week creates one specific roster management consideration: Rice will have limited regular-season at-bats over the next several days with the break arriving.
Roto managers should already have him locked into their lineups for the back half of the week and into the post-break stretch. Points-league managers should note that his production rate – this many home runs in this few games – is elite-level efficiency that holds value regardless of format.
The forward-looking signal to monitor is whether Rice carries this power surge into the second half after the All-Star break. If Judge returns healthy and Rice keeps hitting, this lineup becomes one of the most dangerous in the AL. Buy Rice at any cost right now in dynasty and keeper formats – the current price likely still undervalues him.
Betting the Yankees – What Rice’s Derby Momentum Means for the Lines
The sharpest immediate market for Rice bettors is his anytime home run prop. He has gone deep in back-to-back games and four times in four contests – at that clip, the prop carries real value in every remaining regular-season game before the break. Shop the number across books and get on it early before the market adjusts to reflect the surge.
Derby futures are the other market worth tracking. If books are posting outright Derby winner odds, Rice at 28 homers and locked in as the field leader in actual production should be offered at a price that still reflects some first-timer discount. That discount is exploitable. Caminero’s experience makes him a legitimate co-favorite, but Rice’s current form is impossible to fade at a plus-money number.
Team total implications are also real. The Yankees put up 12 runs on 14 hits Thursday, and with Rice in this zone and the lineup finding its rhythm heading into the break, New York’s run totals in their final pre-break series deserve attention on the over. Check the sportsbook table above for current Yankees lines and Rice prop availability.
The Verdict – Rice Is the Real Deal and the Derby Field Knows It
Ben Rice is not riding a hot week – he is having one of the more quietly dominant offensive seasons in the AL, and the Home Run Derby on July 13 is going to put that production in front of a national audience for the first time. Caminero’s experience is real, but Rice’s current form is just as real. Full stop.
The next hard checkpoint is the Derby itself on July 13 – specifically whether Rice can translate his regular-season power surge into the unique format of the competition, and whether he advances past the opening round against the other confirmed participants. Keep an eye out on NYSD for further updates on Ben Rice and the Yankees as this situation develops.
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