Another former Kettleer has made it to “The Show.”
Ben Rice, a member of the 2021 Kettleers, was called up by the New York Yankees on Tuesday to replace an injured Anthony Rizzo on the Major League roster.
The Cohasset, Massachusetts native started his collegiate career at Dartmouth in 2019. As a freshman, he split catching duties for the Big Green and accumulated 72 at-bats in 23 games. He parlayed that experience into a terrific summer with the Worcester Bravehearts of the Futures League. In his first experience in a collegiate wood-bat league, Rice batted .392 with an impressive OPS of 1.064.
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 cut his sophomore season at Dartmouth short, but he returned to the Bravehearts and managed to improve his offensive output, especially on the power side. In 43 games and 123 at-bats that summer in the FCL, Rice had 18 extra-base hits, with 11 leaving the yard. His on-base and slugging percentages jumped to .467 and .683 respectively from his outstanding 2019 summer and Rice was named the league MVP.
“Ben was a guy that we had identified in that 2020 summer. The Futures League actually was one of the only leagues that played across the country and he tore it up,” said Baseball America writer Peter Flaherty. “And so we kind of wanted a bat-first catcher with Ben and we knew that there would be some work to do defensively and coach Roberts got some really polished up back there, but he made an impact in the box immediately for us.”
Into his junior year, the Ivy League canceled its season for a second straight year, putting a huge emphasis on his Cape League stint with the Kettleers in 2021. Rice performed well, posting a .372 OBP in 13 games and improved his defense behind the plate with the help of manager Mike Roberts. The New York Yankees selected him with the 363rd pick of that summer’s MLB draft.
Rice excelled up the Yankees Minor League ranks, especially turning up the heat beginning In 2023. After short stints with the Tampa Tarpons and Hudson Valley Renegades in Single-A, he finished the year with Double-A Somerset and played extremely well at all three levels, finishing the season with a cumulative OPS of 1.048.
In 2024, his tear of the Minor Leagues continued, slugging .511 in his first 49 games with the Patriots before being called up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His offensive talent did not dissipate there either and he now gets the well-deserved call to fill the gap in the lineup of the best team in MLB.
“The bat comes first with Ben and there's real power to the pull side and also an impressive feel to hit,” said Flaherty. “And his feel to hit has only gotten better as he's progressed through the minor leagues, so he's being called up at a perfect time and I think he's gonna really help the team.”
Rice batted sixth and played first base in his Major League debut against the Baltimore Orioles. He finished the night 1-for-4, with his first career hit coming in the bottom of the third inning against Albert Suarez.
