The New York Yankees capped their 5-1 road trip with an emphatic 13-8 victory over the Athletics on Sunday. They scored an historic 13 runs in the third inning to seal the deal. They swept the Royals (and made offensive history in that series) and took two out of three from the A’s.
The critics will want to see more against better teams, and we can understand that. However, the Yankees are playing the schedule they’ve been dealt and getting the job done against inferior opponents. That’s part of the 162-game season, too.
Outside of that rough two-week stretch earlier this month, everything’s been going well. The rotation’s excellent. The offense has gotten by despite a number of costly injuries. The bullpen is bending but not breaking (yet). There are flaws to address, but nothing to scream about at the moment.
How about some good problems to have? Like Ben Rice possibly stealing MVP votes from Aaron Judge? That’s a pretty crazy storyline, right?
Sure, there are concerns about Rice not playing first base since May 19 due to an injury scare with his hand, but the young slugger has been relentless on offense. That suggests he’s doing … just fine.
The Yankees scored THIRTEEN runs in one inning, coming one run short of tying their franchise record pic.twitter.com/62aonBy81e
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 31, 2026
Ben Rice has been more of an offensive catalyst for Yankees than Aaron Judge
After Sunday’s barrage, Rice is hitting .306/.397/.658 with 44 runs scored, 17 homers and 44 RBI. His slugging percentage leads all of MLB. He’s already generated 2.1 WAR (not counting his output in the series finale). On Sunday, he hit the game-tying two-run double and then hit a two-run triple to give the Yankees their 12th run.
He’s been an absolute machine. Without him, we’re not sure where the Yankees would be, because Judge hasn’t exactly been himself this year (for Judge Standards).
Ben Rice in the 3rd inning today:
2-for-2, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI 😳 pic.twitter.com/KQZn6BnZcQ
— MLB (@MLB) May 31, 2026
The reigning AL MVP is hitting “just” .248/.375/.533 with 43 runs scored, 17 homers and 38 RBI. Those are great numbers! But Judge recently endured his longest home run-less streak and RBI-less streak of his career in May as Rice continued to tear the cover off the ball, and that’s with Rice “cooling off” over his last 22 games compared to his April performance. Judge is also trending toward a career high in strikeouts with 72 in his 59 games played.
With Rice toe-to-toe with Judge (or better) in the most important offensive metrics, all he’ll need to do is brush up on his defense to make the 2026 Yankees MVP race a real duel. We’re not forgetting about Cody Bellinger and his 3.1 WAR, but there’s a considerable gulf offensively, and we know defense only really factors in when there’s elite level production at the plate. That’s what makes Bobby Witt Jr. the AL frontrunner right now.
We are over two months into the 2026 campaign, meaning Rice’s performance (based on his showing last year) is no fluke. It’s possible he’s an MVP-caliber bat in this league. And it’s possible, when all is said and done, that he will be viewed as the Yankees offense’s driving force this year. He’ll have to maintain a semblance of this torrid pace and Judge will have to continue scuffling from time to time, but Rice’s sustain ascension can no longer be considered a footnote.
It’s not a changing of the guard by any means, but it is something. Exactly what it is, we don’t know. But we’ll enjoy watching it unfold.
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