For the first time in nearly three months, there was a shake-up at the top of the Yankees’ batting order.
Anthony Volpe has fallen and Ben Rice has risen, a move that paid off — but not enough — in an 8-4 loss to the Reds in The Bronx on Thursday.
“I just wanted to shake it up a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said after shifting Volpe to a different spot in the order for the first time since April 9 and bumping Rice to leadoff.
Rice rewarded the switch with his first major league home run, a fifth-inning blast to right, on a 1-for-5 afternoon.
Even his unsuccessful at-bats were generally well-handled, including a first-inning strikeout in which he saw a full count and seven pitches before swinging through a fastball.
The 25-year-old will better remember the home run, a 407-foot shot that brought the crowd to its feet and pasted a smile on his face.
“Just excitement. Overjoyed,” Rice, who was able to get the ball back, said after going deep in his 15th big-league game. “Finally got that first one out of the way.”
The lefty-swinger was atop the lineup against righty Frankie Montas as the righty-swinging Volpe fell in the order.
The young shortstop opened the season as a middle- or bottom-of-the-order bat before he rode a hot streak to the top of the lineup.
But Volpe stalled in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge and hit just .242/.293/.358 as the No. 1 hitter, consistently struggling to reach base ahead of maybe the two best hitters in baseball.
Three times Boone mentioned the less-pressurized spot in the lineup would give Volpe a “blow” or a “break.”
After Wednesday’s loss, Boone talked with Volpe about his decision, and he said Volpe took the news in stride.
“I feel like the last couple of weeks he’s been struggling,” Boone said of Volpe, who is 9-for-58 (.155) with 14 strikeouts and two walks in his past 13 games. “I feel like he’s done a lot of really good in that spot [too]. And I don’t rule out him going back there or against lefties being up there.“Just feel like a little blow from that spot might serve him well.”
Rice has impressed in his first couple weeks in the majors and owns a .360 on-base percentage.
The rookie has held his own at first base since replacing Anthony Rizzo and has been particularly impressive at the plate against righty pitchers.
Rice — whose season began with Double-A Somerset — has been tasked with getting on base ahead of Soto and Judge.
Rice said his mindset does not change, but maybe his level of excitement was altered.
“It’s cool. It’s definitely pretty cool,” Rice said with a laugh about hitting in front of Soto and Judge. “But like I said: It’s the same game.”
Boone opted for the tweak, which he said might “optimize” his lineup, amid a deep slump for most of the offense outside of Judge and Soto.
He wanted to try something.
The manager did not commit to Rice remaining at the top and mentioned Volpe might rise again particularly against southpaws.
The Yankees are set to face three righty starters in the series with the Red Sox that begins Friday.
