If you had told me before the season started that one Yankees batter would have a wRC+ starting with 2 at the beginning of May, I would have immediately guessed Aaron Judge, since, you know, that’s what he did the past two years. Failing that, my next guess would have been Ryan McMahon, with the caveat that his would be in the 20s rather than the 200s. There’s a chance that Ben Rice wouldn’t have even been my third guess. But here we are on May 5, and lo and behold: through Sunday’s action, Rice leads the team with a 211 wRC+.
Rice probably isn’t going to maintain this level of production for the entire year. However, he doesn’t need to for him to be a godsend for the Yankees. In fact, even if Rice only managed to replicate his 2025 stats – a 133 wRC+ and 3.0 WAR – I would have been ecstatic. Are my expectations too low? Maybe. But after a decade-plus of lackluster production from first base, even 2025 Ben Rice was like a desert oasis.
To wit: that 133 wRC+ that Rice posted in 2025? The last Yankees first baseman to post a higher mark over a full season (excluding 2020) was…Mark Teixeira, all the way back in 2009. Indeed, Tex really was the last stable presence at first base before the rise of Rice; the intervening years saw many first basemen try to hold the position down, but none could. That’s not to say that the position was a black hole for 15 years – there were some bright points from time to time. Ultimately, though, even the players who enjoyed success could not sustain it. In order to fully appreciate the Ben Rice experience, let’s take a small trip down memory lane to recall what it was like before our boyish-faced king came around.
2013-2016: Mark Teixeira’s fall and Greg Bird’s emergence
After the Yankees signed him to an eight-year, $180 million contract in the 2008-9 offseason, Mark Teixeira certainly lived up to it during the first half of the pact. After a spectacular 2009 season which saw him win a ring and place 2nd in MVP voting, Teixeira hit 96 home runs and was worth 10.4 WAR from 2010-12. However, things went south quickly for the switch-hitting slugger thereafter. He missed nearly the entire 2013 season due to wrist issues and subsequent surgery, forcing the Yankees to make do with a truly uninspiring list of replacements – Lyle Overbay, Mark Reynolds, Kevin Youkilis, and a bunch of dudes that sucked even worse. I was there to witness it – on the game threads, at least. It was bad.
2014 saw Teixeira return to the field at least, but the results were meh at best – a .216/.313/.398 line, good for only a 102 wRC+, over 123 games. It was better than 2013 in the sense that in-flight meals are better than eating nothing at all. Given his age – this was Tex’s age-34 season – the consensus among Yankees fans was that we had seen the last of him as a productive major leaguer.
So, imagine our shock when Teixeira found the fountain of youth in 2015, hitting 31 home runs in just 462 plate appearances and posting a 143 wRC+. It was glorious, it was stupendous, and it was marvelous – before it came to an abrupt halt. In mid-August, Tex fouled a ball off his foot and left the game. Just like that, his season was over – though initial tests came back negative, a mid-September MRI revealed that he had suffered a fractured shin. However, a rising star within the Yankees’ system softened the blow. It was none other than the original Baby Bomber, Greg Bird.
Having been called up on August 13, Bird assumed starting duties at first base immediately following Tex’s injury, and spent the rest of 2015 looking like the Yankees’ first baseman of the future. He hit 10 home runs and garnered 1.1 WAR in just 178 plate appearances, and was one of only three Yankees to record a hit in the 2015 Wild Card game loss against the Astros. Every fan in Yankeedom was hoping that Bird would wrest the position from Tex for good in 2016.
Alas, it was not to be. Bird tore his labrum in the offseason and missed the entire 2016 season. Forced into a starting role, Teixeira posted a 76 wRC+ and -0.7 WAR over 116 games before retiring at season’s end. Thus ended Tex’s reign, with a whimper, an injured heir, and a cloudy future.
2017-2018: Greg Bird’s failed liftoff and Luke Voit’s magical run
There were many questions surrounding Greg Bird prior to the 2017 season. How did missing all of 2016 affect his development? Would he be able to hit like he did in 2015? Would his body hold up over a full season?
Then spring training started, and Bird absolutely raked. He hit eight homers, tied with Bryce Harper for the MLB lead, and had an OPS of 1.654. It was more than enough to turn the conversation surrounding him from “Is he good?” to “How many MVP votes will he get?” Every Yankees fan – at least those who frequented this site – could not wait for the season to start so that Bird could wreak havoc on the league.
If there is an omnipotent being, they must have it in for Bird for some reason. On March 30, less than 48 hours until Opening Day, Bird fouled a ball off his ankle. That was all it took to sap all of his offensive production. Over the first month of the season, Bird hit a paltry .100/.250/.200 across 19 games before being placed on the IL with a bruised right ankle. In July, he underwent surgery to remove a bone from his ailing foot. He would not return until August 26.
Luckily for the Yankees, they had acquired veteran slugger Chris Carter in the offseason for exactly this sort of situation. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Carter was utterly washed. He hit just .201 with eight homers with -0.3 WAR in 62 games. It was so bad that the Yankees had to turn to literally Chase Headley at first base. To his credit, Headley hit well, posting a 114 wRC+ in his 39 games played at first. That was good enough to hold down the fort until Bird’s return – and return he did, hitting eight home runs with a .575 slugging percentage in 98 PAs to close out the year.
Bird hit well during the Yankees’ 2017 postseason run as well, with a .244/.426/.512 line across 54 PAs. Who could forget his signature moment, a 7th inning solo shot against prime Andrew Miller in a do-or-die ALDS Game 3 against the Guardians which proved to be the margin of victory?
That postseason performance, coupled with a strong finish to the year, was more than enough to rekindle hope for Bird in even the most cold-hearted fans. But the universe is cruel and indifferent to our wishes. On March 26, 2018, it was announced that Bird would undergo ankle surgery, sidelining him for six to eight weeks. Two months later, he returned to the starting lineup, but his mojo was gone. Bird struggled to the tune of a .672 OPS in 82 games before losing his starting gig in late August. He played in just 10 games the following year, before yet another foot injury sidelined him for the entire year, and was designated for assignment in November. Just like that, the Yankees’ once first baseman of the future was gone.
However, as the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. The man who replaced Bird at first base in August 2018 was none other than Luke Voit. Acquired from the Cardinals at the trade deadline, Voit took the job and never looked back. In 39 games with the Yankees, he hit 14 homers with a .335/.405/.689 line, good for a 195 wRC+. Outside of Aaron Judge, I don’t really think I’ve ever seen a Yankee run this hot for this long; it really felt like he was homering every game. He was so good that even Ken Singleton was flustered.
Although the 2018 season ended in a painful fashion, there was a feeling among Yankees fans that they had finally found the answer at first base in Luke Voit. But as a wise man often said, you can’t predict baseball. Tune in on Friday for another look back at the Yankees’ first base situation from 2019-2024.
