Ben Rice

The late great Steve Moyer would often throw out names in LABR with the label, "the sabermetric darling...." If Moyer was still with us today, he would no doubt slap that label on Ben Rice because the youngster absolutely earned it in 2025. Rice did not have enough plate appearances to qualify for leaderboards last season, but his barrel percentage and chase percentage along with an intriguing xwOBA were enough to get fantasy managers intrigued. That, and the news he may catch some games in 2026. Everything was a Ricearoni treat, as Rice not only raked, but he ended up catching enough to qualify for the position in 2026 and greatly raising his fantasy profile for this draft season. Rice, unsurprisingly, had his issues against fellow southpaws, hitting .208 with just seven of his 26 home runs against them, but his home/road home run splits were nearly dead even along with his batting average. His numbers really took off after the break, as Rice hit .281/.352/.542 in the 60 games leading into October. There are few players whose 2026 outlook has changed in the past year more than Rice's. As long as he continues to hit like this, the Yankees can live with the defensive issues. Read Past Outlooks