Ben Rice turns first Home Run Derby into a family affair, even after early elimination

Ben Rice’s first Home Run Derby experience started like one of the backyard sessions he grew up running with his father and ended with the same thing he felt best about, a sense of shared moment even if the scoreboard did not cooperate. Rice, the Yankees’ left-handed power hitter, was eliminated in the first round on Monday night, but he called the whole night unforgettable.

According to Yahoo Sports, Rice embraced “every bit” of the occasion during his debut. The scene that stuck with him most was how he competed, with his dad serving as the pitcher, a setup Rice compared to how they used to play in their backyard when he was younger. The story of the night was not just the home runs, but the personal rhythm of it.

In the first round, Rice totaled seven home runs. The output was enough to make his name part of the Derby conversation, but it was not enough to advance to the semifinal round. That matters in a Home Run Derby format where the margin between continuing and going home can be determined by a handful of swings.

Rice’s comments, as relayed by Yahoo, framed the elimination as secondary to what he learned and enjoyed in the moment. He characterized the experience in a way that suggested the true win for him was participation at the sport’s loudest hitting stage, not simply the brackets that day.

For the Yankees, the broader takeaway is that their lineup now features a hitter who can carry his own energy into an event built on pressure. The Derby is not a regular-season stat contest, but it does function as a showcase of swing intent and comfort against elite pitching, even in a constrained, timed environment.

Rice’s father-pitcher detail also underscores how some players treat the Derby as an extension of their development rather than a departure from it. The Yankees have long relied on cultivating young hitters’ discipline and confidence. Rice’s willingness to translate those backyard origins into a high-profile national stage is the kind of narrative that can buoy a player’s mental approach.

What to watch next is whether the Derby moment becomes a sustained part of Rice’s routine. With one more opportunity to refine timing and handling the cadence of derby-style pitching, the next step would be turning a strong first showing, even without advancement, into consistency during games that ultimately decide postseason positioning.