Ben Rice ‘as advertised’ with bat after being fast-tracked to Yankees

Ben Rice has played more games in the majors (12) than he did at Triple-A (11).

And he’s doing it at a position where he’d started just 52 games in the pros before his promotion to The Bronx last month.

But it wasn’t the 25-year-old’s defense that prompted the Yankees to choose Rice to replace Anthony Rizzo at first base when Rizzo went down with a fractured right forearm.

It was his bat.

In that department, although it’s been just 40 plate appearances, Rice hasn’t disappointed.

Among the reasons the Yankees had their eyes on Rice when Rizzo went down is that he consistently had good at-bats throughout his minor league career.

The organization valued Rice’s plate discipline, as well as his power.

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Both attributes have shown during his brief time in the majors, as Rice has steadied the first-base position, with DJ LeMahieu perhaps finally warming up at the plate while playing third.

“He’s as advertised,’’ said one American League scout who has seen Rice in two series since being called up. “He has a calm presence at the plate, which you can’t teach. He showed it in the minors, but it doesn’t always translate here.”

As evidence, Rice’s strikeout percentage of 12.5 is the lowest on the team and his walk rate of 15 percent trails only the famously patient Juan Soto, as well as Aaron Judge.

When it comes to power, Rice has an average exit velocity of 91.5 mph, good for fourth on the team, behind Judge, Soto and Giancarlo Stanton.

“Since we’ve had him here, one of his calling cards has been strike-zone discipline,” said Kevin Reese, vice president of player development. “Some guys are really good at laying off pitches out of the zone and some guys are really good at swinging at pitches in the zone. Not many guys combine those things and swing at all the right pitches. Soto is probably the best at that and Ben has done a nice job of that.”

“At that age, to come in here, the teams he’s played are some tough teams in tough environments,’’ Judge said in Toronto. “I go back to the game [Saturday]. He comes up and gets slotted into that two-hole real quick, comes out of the gate with a nice line drive to left-center. It’s just impressive at-bat after impressive at-bat. We saw what he was doing in the minor leagues and it’s really translating well up here.”

Aaron Boone also noted the quality of Rice’s at-bats and the manager also noted “his ability to impact the ball.”

Boone also said Rice has “held his own” against lefties, but that’s where Rice’s résumé weakens — and where JD Davis could come in.

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Rice is just 1-for-12 with a walk and four strikeouts in 13 plate appearances versus lefties, while he has a .958 OPS in 27 plate appearances against right-handers.

His splits were not as slanted in the minors this season (.936-.783), but it’s easy to see why the Yankees want the right-handed Davis around to go up against at least some lefties.

On the other side of the ball, Rice’s defensive metrics aren’t great, but he’s mostly been at least average at the position, and the Yankees don’t have a defensive stalwart to turn to there, anyway.

And the Yankees, Reese said, continue to believe he can be a catcher at the major league level.

“When he went to Triple-A, we had conversations with him and said, ‘We know you’re a catcher and still think you’re a catcher, but we want to have some coverage [at first base],’’’ Reese said of Rice’s promotion from Double-A Somerset less than a month ago.

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The Yankees, Reese said, were looking for “insurance policies” at different spots.

Because they have a lot of catching prospects, Rice’s workload at first increased.

“I’m sure when he daydreamed about being in the big leagues, it was as a catcher and not a first baseman, but here we are.”

Since the Yankees’ future at first base is unclear and Jose Trevino and Austin Wells are entrenched at catcher, it’s unclear when Rice might get back behind the plate, but the Yankees like his skill set as a catcher.

“We’ll see how it shakes out over time,’’ Reese said.

For now, Rice is at first and the Reds, who come to Yankee Stadium for a three-game set beginning Tuesday, are scheduled to start a pair of right-handers, including ex-Yankee Frankie Montas, so Rice should continue to get plenty of playing time.

With the trade deadline four weeks from Tuesday, the Yankees still have to determine whether their infield is strong enough to contend for a title, but for at least the past two weeks, Rice has given them something to think about.

— Additional reporting by Greg Joyce

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