The New York Yankees will have a representative at next week’s Home Run Derby, which will take place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Monday. It will be none other than Ben Rice, a legitimate AL MVP candidate and one of the best left-handed hitters in the sport these days.
The young slugger shared the news via his official Instagram profile. The Yankees also prepared a hype video for him.
It will be Rice’s first Home Run Derby, so fans are in for a treat. The first baseman/designated hitter
currently has 25 home runs, tied for fifth in Major League Baseball behind Kyle Schwarber (30), Yordan Álvarez (29), Hunter Goodman (27), and Junior Caminero (26). He is only one dinger shy of last year’s total of 26 and just showed off his pop last night, delivering a key insurance run during the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over Caminero’s Rays.
Rice has followed up his breakout 2025 campaign with a strong .267/.360/.565 line and a 154 wRC+. He has impressive batting practice power in addition to being really good in games, too.
Rice will have his father, Dan, pitching to him in the Derby. The elder Rice was a member of Brown University’s baseball squad as a pitcher in the eighties, so he is no stranger to the mound and will make sure to throw some meatballs to his son — just as he did when Ben was growing up. Perhaps the elder Rice can help his son rekindle some Yankee magic in the Derby, much like Robinson Canó’s father, José, helped the latter take the competition’s crown back in 2011.
So far, four Yankees have won the Home Run Derby: Tino Martinez in Cleveland (1997), Jason Giambi in Milwaukee (2002), Canó in Phoenix (2011), and Aaron Judge in Miami (2017). Other Yankees to participate over the years include Nick Swisher in Anaheim (2010), Gary Sánchez in Miami (2017), and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in Atlanta (2025). At the very least, Rice will hope for a better outcome than Jazz.
The full list of participants will be confirmed throughout the week. So far, Rice is the second one to confirm after his division rival Caminero.
The competition will air on Netflix, with the action expected to start at 8:00 pm ET on Monday.
