00:00Ben Rice has been kind of on the Kyle Schwarber trajectory. He starts as a catcher, just like
00:05Schwarber. I think it's kind of determined he's probably never going to be exceptional at that
00:10position. But the bat, like Schwarber's bat, is full of lefty power, lots of strikeouts,
00:16but also lots of walks. If you go and look, Rice's year this year looks a lot like 2021 season
00:24by
00:24Kyle Schwarber. One of the reasons I bring up the 2021 season, Schwarber got traded to the Red Sox
00:29at the trade deadline that year, and the Red Sox wanted to play him at first base. It didn't go
00:34well. And I think that you would probably say the same thing about Kyle Schwarber and Ben Rice, which
00:39is it's never going to be about diligence in doing something. Like Schwarber, could he put a lot of
00:43work into this and not get good enough at first base? I think putting a weak fielder on the field,
00:50the ball is going to find them, especially in the biggest spot. That being said, I think Rice has to
00:56try this offseason. Take a couple of weeks off, and then whatever effort you're putting into your
01:01swing, put into first base also. Because the Yankees are, as they currently constitute it,
01:06are going to have a lot of first base DH types, and you don't want to lack flexibility there.
01:14Starting in 2027, but certainly moving forward, and it's again why if Rice can play first base,
01:20it would have value. I think Aaron Judge has to start DH-ing a game a week or two games
01:24a week,
01:25just to preserve his body in the late 30s as he's getting older into his later 30s.
01:29He's hurt himself doing what felt like pretty normal baseball activities this year,
01:35and I think you have to worry about, is he on some kind of Stanton timeline for injuries now at
01:40his size and the strength and force he does everything, and can you protect him from some of it
01:45by using the DH?
