May 14, 2025
New York Yankees first baseman
Paul Goldschmidt and catcher
Austin Wells are not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the hosting Seattle Mariners.
Ben Rice will start at first base and bat second, while
J.C. Escarra will do the catching and hit eighth against Mariners right-hander
Luis Castillo. Goldy, who is having a resurgent season in his first year in the Bronx, will take the day off after starting each of the team's last six games. He's currently tied for third in all of baseball with 55 hits and ranks fourth with a .344 average, adding four homers, 21 RBI and 26 runs scored. Wells is batting just .214 (27-for-126) but is tied for third among all catchers with his eight home runs. His 28 RBI are tied for most with Seattle's
Cal Raleigh at catcher. Neither Rice nor Escarra have ever faced Castillo in their career. Rice is a sneaky DFS power option with nine homers and 20 RBI on the year.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
May 6, 2025
New York Yankees first baseman
Paul Goldschmidt is not in the starting lineup for Game 2 of the series against the visiting San Diego Padres in the Bronx on Tuesday.
Ben Rice will start at first base and bat out of the two-hole against Padres right-hander
Michael King. Goldy will be taking a regular day of rest after outperforming expectations early on in his first season with the Yankees after showing clear signs of offensive decline his last few years in St. Louis. The 37-year-old seven-time All-Star and former MVP is hitting a robust .353/.400/.481 with an .881 OPS, three home runs, 17 RBI, 20 runs scored and two stolen bases in 133 at-bats. Rice is in a prime batting-order location to return some DFS value, but he's facing one of the better pitchers in the league and has never faced King. Rice has opened the year hitting .255 (27-for-106) with eight homers, 13 RBI, 22 runs and two steals for the Yanks.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
April 3, 2025
New York Yankees first baseman
Paul Goldschmidt is getting the day off on Thursday for the series finale against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium.
Ben Rice is getting the start at first base and is hitting leadoff against D-backs right-hander
Merrill Kelly. Goldy will take his first day off of the year after hitting atop New York's batting order the last four games. The 37-year-old former National League MVP has gotten off to a .250 batting average (5-for-20) with a homer, double, two RBI, one walk and six strikeouts in five games played. The seven-time All-Star showed plenty of signs of decline his last two years in St. Louis, but he could be a bit more intriguing as a bounce-back candidate if he continues to hit atop the Yankees' batting order. Rice will be a popular DFS play on Thursday in the leadoff spot after going 5-for-13 with two homers, a double and two RBI in his first five games in 2025.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
April 1, 2025
New York Yankees first baseman
Paul Goldschmidt is batting leadoff again on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks and right-hander
Corbin Burnes. It will be Goldschmidt's third time leading off in the early going in five games played. In his first game at leadoff on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers, the 37-year-old right-handed slugger hit the first pitch he saw out of the park and set the stage for the Yankees to set a new MLB record by homering three straight times on only three pitches to begin a game. He will now hit leadoff for the third straight game against a right-hander, and the Yanks don't really have any reason to change their lineup up after scoring 32 runs in the games that Goldy has hit leadoff. He's gone 5-for-12 with a homer, double and two RBI in three games and has hit .323 with an .834 OPS, a homer and two RBI in 31 career at-bats against Burnes.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
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