Yankees' Ben Rice Comes Up Short in Home Run Derby Pitched by His Dad

Yankees first baseman Ben Rice's storybook Home Run Derby moment with his father on the mound came to an early end Monday night, as Rice was the first player eliminated at Citizens Bank Park despite entering the contest with the second-most home runs of any participant.

How the Night Unfolded

Rice managed just seven home runs in his first-round appearance, falling short in front of a notoriously tough Philadelphia crowd that gave him the loudest boos of any player during introductions. He had a chance to at least tie Jac Caglianone's total with his very last swing of the round, but popped it up instead, sealing his fate as the tournament's first casualty. Rice entered the derby with 29 home runs on the season, second only to Kyle Schwarber's 32 among the eight participants, making the early exit a surprising outcome given his regular-season power numbers.

The Father-Son Story Behind It

What made Rice's derby run special had little to do with the final score. When the 27-year-old accepted his first career All-Star selection and derby invitation, he chose his father, Dan Rice, to pitch to him — a role Dan has effectively held for Ben's entire life. Dan Rice pitched at Brown University in the 1980s before returning to the mound decades later to groove pitches to his son during countless offseason batting practice sessions. "My dad has always been there for me," Ben Rice said ahead of the event. "Every offseason, I'm going back and making sure I get my BP in with my dad. He always went the extra mile; he'd drive an hour-plus or two hours from Cohasset, and we'd go hit at a local field to get our swings in for the day." Rice added with a laugh that "his lifetime pitch count is through the roof at this point."

Rice, who grew up in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and played college ball at Dartmouth before being drafted in the 12th round in 2021, described the batting practice sessions with his dad as less about mechanics and more about developing instinct: "Our BP was never about nitpicking my swing or a lot of instruction, to be honest. He would try to throw me off-balance with different pitches and have me work through situations. He wanted me to become a good hitter, not necessarily to have a great swing. That was huge in my development."

A Format Built for Power, Not Just Familiarity

The 2026 Derby featured a notably different format than in recent years, eliminating the timed-clock system that had governed the competition since 2015. Instead, each of the eight contestants received a fixed swing allotment — 20 swings in Round 1, 15 in Round 2, and 15 in the final round — with a player who homers on his final swing earning bonus swings until he finally makes an out. Analysts had flagged before the event that the swing-based format would favor pure bat speed and power over stamina, with some suggesting sluggers like Rice and Bryce Harper could face a tougher path than higher-exit-velocity hitters like Junior Caminero and Jordan Walker.

The Rest of the Field

Rice was joined in the derby by Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper of the host Phillies, Junior Caminero of the Rays, Jordan Walker, Willson Contreras, Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox, and Jac Caglianone of the Royals. The event marked the first time Citizens Bank Park had hosted the derby since Barry Bonds won there in 1996, and only three players in derby history have ever won the event in their home ballpark. Rice was hoping to become the first Yankee to win the derby since Aaron Judge in 2017 — a list that also includes Tino Martinez (1997), Jason Giambi (2002), and Robinson Canó (2011). Instead, he joins Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was eliminated in the first round representing the Yankees a year earlier, continuing a recent stretch of early exits for the franchise's derby entrants.

What's Next

Despite the early elimination, Rice's derby appearance capped a breakout first half that also included his first career All-Star selection. Manager Aaron Boone had spoken warmly about the father-son storyline heading into the event, saying, "There's that father-son baseball component to it that hopefully is a lot of fun." While the scoreboard didn't go Rice's way, the moment of taking batting practice from his father on a nationally televised stage — the same routine that shaped his swing since childhood — offered its own reward regardless of the round-one result.