TAMPA, Fla. — There were times last year when Paul Goldschmidt would cut himself off. He would closely watch Ben Rice’s moves around first base in warmups or during games, but when there was an opportunity to give advice, sometimes he’d hold back. He didn’t want Rice to feel like he was being overbearing, even if what he had to offer came from winning four Gold Glove awards in 15 seasons.
Nonsense, Rice thought.
“‘Dude,’” he told Goldschmidt, “‘say what you want. Please. Even if it’s something you think I might know, I might not.
“‘So, no matter how simple it sounds in your head, anything you say to me is just gold.’”
While recounting the memory Wednesday at New York Yankees spring training, Rice smirked.
“No pun intended,” he said.
This year, Goldschmidt will have ample opportunity to coach Rice. Their roles have reversed, with the Yankees planning for Rice, almost 27, to get the majority of the time at first base, and with Goldschmidt, 38, expected to mostly play against left-handed pitchers and as a late-inning defensive substitute.
Last season, the Yankees signed Goldschmidt to a one-year, $12.5 million deal to be the full-timer. But Rice’s emergence, especially at the plate, relegated Goldschmidt to a part-time role in the second half. This offseason, the Yankees reached an agreement with Goldschmidt a week before spring training started for another one-year deal, this time for just $4 million.
Goldschmidt is embracing his new role. He remembers when he wasn’t the smoothest first baseman during his minor-league days, and how he began to excel when he started giving it the same type of effort he put into his hitting. Plus, in the major leagues, he had veterans to help him. There was Lyle Overbay, Xavier Nady and Eric Hinske in his early days with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt said he had valuable infield coaches throughout the minors, but few of them had played first base every day and knew the nuances of the trade like the veterans.
He’s ready to be that veteran for Rice.
“Whatever (the Yankees) need me to do,” he said.
Paul Goldschmidt fields a grounder Thursday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. (Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
Rice was quick to respond when asked about Goldschmidt.
“He’s the best,” Rice said.
He added that their relationship is already “really good.”
“This year it will be even better,” Rice said. “We’ve been with each other for a full year. We’ve become friends and good teammates, and it’ll be natural. I’m never afraid to ask him a question. I definitely can ask a lot of questions. But he’s always been good, honestly, from day one.”
Their personalities would appear to make them a natural fit for apprenticeship. Goldschmidt speaks clearly and directly, and he looks you in the eye. Rice majored in psychology at Dartmouth, and he’s always exploring new ways to improve. Last winter, he got stronger, adding 10 pounds after consulting with Yankees nutritionists, then spent all season bouncing from pitcher-catcher meetings to hitters meetings to learning to play first base.
It wasn’t the first time Goldschmidt took on a bit of a mentorship role for a Yankees player. Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge spent a day hitting together in the winter going into the 2023 season, talking in-depth about their two-strike approaches.
Paul Goldschmidt said Ben Rice “has the potential to be really good, if not great” defensively at first base. (John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
As for Rice, it’s been an adjustment, with the Yankees for the first time telling him to prioritize first base all offseason, after spending his whole life as a catcher. The Yankees drafted him in the 12th round in 2021 out of Dartmouth, where he was a raw defender behind the plate with a projectable bat.
Rice began fulfilling that promise last season, hitting .255 with 26 home runs, 65 RBIs and an .836 OPS in 138 games, 50 of them (370 innings) at first base. Meanwhile, Goldschmidt began last season hot (.338 batting average, .889 OPS through his first 57 games) but struggled after May (.226, .610 OPS over his final 89 games).
The Yankees and Rice know he’s still a work in progress defensively at the position. FanGraphs calculated he was worth minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved. An opposing scout offered a succinct assessment of Rice’s defense at first base in a text message to The Athletic: “Plodding.”
But Rice said he feels even better at first base now than he did at the end of last season.
“The more reps,” he said, “the better. It’s hard to replicate game reps. I definitely feel like I’ve made some strides. I feel like I’m in a good spot.”
Manager Aaron Boone said he believes Rice has “earned” a chance to get more than the 530 plate appearances he totaled last year, and some of them might, in fact, come while he’s playing catcher.
Goldschmidt said he believes Rice “has the potential to be really good, if not great” defensively at first base.
“I don’t know much about catching,” Goldschmidt said, “but at first base, I think he’s got all the physical and mental skills to do it. As he gets more of an opportunity, he’s going to keep getting better.”
Especially if Rice has Goldschmidt watching his back, as other veterans did for him.