Yankees Will Regret Sitting Ben Rice
When New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone officially posts the lineup for Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series with the Boston Red Sox, don't look for Ben Rice's name, because it likely won't be there.
Boone is expected to go with Austin Wells at catcher and Paul Goldschmidt at first base for the series opener. And at first glance, that makes sense, because Boone is playing the odds with the Red Sox starting left-hander Garrett Crochet in Game 1.
Rice is slashing .208/.271/.481 against left-handers this year, and keep in mind, Crochet is in the running for the American League Cy Young Award.
Wells is having a bit more success with southpaws, slashing .240/.285/.448. Goldschmidt is even better: .336/.411/.570.
When asked why he will go with Wells over Rice, Boone said, "Because I think Wells is really good back there and he's been really good with [Max] Fried. Wellsy is actually swinging the bat really good here down the stretch as well.
"Just because Rice isn't in there doesn't mean he doesn't impact the game in a big way," Boone continued, according to the New York Daily News' Gary Phillips. "Like that's a big thing with a lot of these matchups, it's like sometimes you're putting them in a better spot to impact the game. Sometimes when they're coming off the bench in a situation, whatever it may be."
However that doesn't take into account the fact that Rice was one of the Yankees' hottest hitters during the stretch run. He slashed .301/.333/.554 over the final 30 days of the season with four home runs and 14 RBIs.
Wells over the last 30 games? He hit .276 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. Goldschmidt? Just .224 with no home runs and two RBIs. Yes. Just two RBIs over the last month of the regular season.
Rice finished the season fifth on the Yankees with 26 home runs. In the playoffs, you ride or die with your best players. On a team which lives and dies by the long ball, putting Rice on the bench just doesn't make sense.
Raiders Get Worse-Than-Expected News on Kolton Miller’s Injury
The Las Vegas Raiders were fortunate to avoid any major injuries through the first three weeks of the season, but that changed in Week 4. With less than a minute left in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears, starting left tackle Kolton Miller had to be carted off the field after injuring his ankle.
At first, the hope was that he merely suffered a high ankle sprain. It’s not a great injury for a big player like Miller, but it’s something that he may have been able to return from after a couple of weeks off. Unfortunately, things are worse than expected. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, in addition to a high ankle sprain, a CT scan revealed that Miller has also suffered a hairline fracture.
This means he’ll be headed to Injured Reserve. Considering Miller is 6-foot-8, 326 pounds, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to come back this season. He’s a very tough player, so it’s easy to see him pushing to return late in the season if the Raiders are making a playoff push, but if they are out of the mix, there’s no reason to risk him making things worse.
Miller is the Raiders‘ best and most consistent offensive lineman, so this is a massive loss that could be difficult to overcome.
Who Will Replace Miller on OL?
It’s hard enough to find one good left tackle, so not many teams have capable backup left tackles. Shortly before the season, the Raiders signed veteran tackle Stone Forsythe, who previously played for Pete Carroll on the Seattle Seahawks.
He has started 14 games in his career, but has given up a lot of pressures. There’s been speculation that rookie Charles Grant will take over for Miller, but it sounds like Forsythe is going to get the first crack at the job.
“Stone’s played a lot of football and done a nice job for us, and he would be the first choice,” Carroll told reporters on Monday.
The Raiders can’t be afraid to pivot off Forsythe if he struggles. If he’s not much better than Grant, they might as well give the rookie some reps. The team could also consider moving right tackle DJ Glaze to the left side, which is where he played in college, but then that would create an issue on the right side.
Raiders OL Is in Trouble
The Raiders‘ offensive line has already been struggling this season. They finally started to build some momentum against the Bears, but now that’s getting thrown out the window.
Miller was the leader of the group and just signed a huge contract extension before the season. He will be very difficult to replace. That said, the Raiders do have some young players who could step up.
This will be a great opportunity for anybody who gets reps at left tackle. It’s the most important position on the offensive line, so playing well could lead to a lot more positive attention. It’s hard to imagine Forsythe will suddenly turn into an impact player in his fifth year, but perhaps Grant could take advantage of the opportunity whenever he’s eventually put into the lineup.
