Cam Schlittler’s joke from earlier this season is about to become reality.
Before it was even official that Ben Rice would be in the Home Run Derby, Schlittler had already volunteered for support duty, saying, “I know Ben wants to do the Home Run Derby,” Schlittler said, “I told him I’d be his Gatorade guy.”
Now Rice is actually headed to the event. On Tuesday, the Yankees first baseman was announced as the second participant in this year’s Home Run Derby, joining Tampa Bay Rays slugger Junior Caminero. The competition is set for July 13 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Rice has turned into one of the most complete hitters in the game this season. His 154 wRC+ is tied for fourth in MLB with Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, and his 25 home runs are tied for fifth-most in the majors with Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton.
The Derby will have a family touch, too. Rice’s dad, Dan, will serve as his batting practice coach in the contest. Dan pitched at Brown University in the 1980s and still throws batting practice to his son in the offseason.
For Rice, this has been a huge year. He came into the league in 2024 with the reputation of being one of baseball’s unluckiest hitters, with the underlying numbers pointing to a breakout if the results ever caught up. In 2026, they finally have.
Before the season, Aaron Boone was already seeing it coming. “I think we’re going to see him continue to establish himself as one of the really good, legit middle-of-the-order bats on a really good offense,” Boone said before the season began.
That prediction has held up. Rice has played like an American League MVP candidate through the first half of the season and has become a major reason the Yankees are sitting as a World Series contender.
In Other News...
Yankees Suddenly Have New Deadline Chips Fans Arent Talking About
A few lower-level Yankees prospects have started to make themselves more interesting at just the right moment, and that matters with the August 3 trade deadline approaching. Thatcher Hurd, Kyle Carr and Stiven Marinez are each showing enough in their own way to draw attention, whether it is Hurd working back from Tommy John surgery, Carr handling both Double-A and Triple-A, or Marinez holding his own in Rookie Ball.
For a front office that is always weighing present needs against future depth, that kind of progress can change the conversation quickly. Hurds recent outing hinted at real upside, Carr has paired command with swing-and-miss stuff, and Marinez has been productive as a teenager in the Florida Complex League after the Yankees made room for him in the international market. If those trends keep going, the Yankees may have a few more ways to navigate the deadline than fans realize. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Suddenly Linked To The Deadline Move Fans Have Been Demanding
The Yankees recent slide has only sharpened the conversation around what they might need to do before the trade deadline, especially with the club looking for a way to steady itself after a rough stretch. With about a month left before the 2026 deadline, the focus is drifting toward big-name pitching help, and one familiar front-line arm has started to surface in that conversation as a possible fit for a team trying to get back on track.
Sandy Alcantara is the kind of starter who would change the tone of any deadline discussion, and his name carries obvious appeal for a Yankees club that wants more certainty on the mound. Even so, any pursuit comes with the usual questions tied to his recent injury history and how he would hold up over the rest of the season, which is part of why this feels like the sort of move that could dominate the final weeks before the deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Deadline Reunion Rumor Raises Big Question About This Lineup
The Yankees offense has spent much of the season looking like a group still searching for a spark, which is why any deadline chatter tied to middle-infield help is going to draw attention. One name floating into the conversation is a familiar one, and the appeal is obvious on the surface: a bat with enough familiarity to make the fit feel easy, at least in theory, for a club trying to patch over its lineup issues.
But the deeper look is where the uncertainty starts to creep in. The player in question has dealt with oblique trouble for much of the year, and even with the Yankees clearly needing more production, there are reasons to wonder whether this is the kind of move that solves the right problem. For a team under pressure to hit better now, the deadline will be about more than reunion nostalgia. [Read more 🡒]