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The New York Yankees are in the middle of a bit of a rut, and one of the main reasons why is that Ben Rice is struggling through a slump at the moment.
But his overall season numbers are still so good that he deserves to be in the MVP conversation. A little over halfway through the season, where does Rice actually stand in the MVP voting?
According to Jason Foster of MLB.com, Rice's updated MVP poll voting results came in, and they don't bode well for the lefty slugger to win the award by season's end.
"4. Ben Rice, Yankees (57 total points; 2 first-place votes)," Foster shared. "Though he's cooled down in June, his 22 homers entering Monday were tied for third in the AL, while his .928 OPS was fifth-best."
Rice is having a good 2026 season, and with 22 homers, 53 RBIs, 56 runs scored, and a .916 OPS, which is eighth-best in MLB. But, compared to how he was thriving earlier in the year, this production has been a little bit of a step back.
There's no denying he's an MVP candidate and one of the best hitters in the sport. But with Nick Kurtz, Bobby Witt Jr., and Yordan Alvarez all playing great, they've jumped in front of Rice in the MVP polling right now.
Alvarez is the first-place MVP candidate in the AL right now, and for good reason. He has the best OPS in baseball at 1.031, he has a .308 batting average (7th), and 25 homers, tied for third-most in baseball.
For as good a start as Rice had to the year, he's cooled off a lot and is not looking likely at all to win the AL MVP award this season.
He could get hot once again, though he'd need Alvarez, Witt, and Kurtz to slow down a bit as well. Rice received just two first-place MVP votes, while Kurtz got one, Witt received six, and Alvarez got 21.
This is Alvarez's award to lose at this rate, and since Rice's struggles, it's clear he's got an uphill battle to win this award.
Looking at bWAR, Rice isn't even in the top-10 among all American League players, with Witt at 4.3, Kurtz at 3.8, and Alvarez (due to being a designated hitter) is at 3.6 bWAR.
Rice has just 1.6 bWAR, well behind the rest of the top candidates for the award. He's not looking likely to win the MVP this season at all right now, which is a shame considering his 1.056 OPS coming into June, that's dropped drastically to a .632 OPS this month.
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But his overall season numbers are still so good that he deserves to be in the MVP conversation. A little over halfway through the season, where does Rice actually stand in the MVP voting?
According to Jason Foster of MLB.com, Rice's updated MVP poll voting results came in, and they don't bode well for the lefty slugger to win the award by season's end.
Yankees get bad news on Ben Rice's MVP campaign amid latest polling results
"4. Ben Rice, Yankees (57 total points; 2 first-place votes)," Foster shared. "Though he's cooled down in June, his 22 homers entering Monday were tied for third in the AL, while his .928 OPS was fifth-best."
Rice is having a good 2026 season, and with 22 homers, 53 RBIs, 56 runs scored, and a .916 OPS, which is eighth-best in MLB. But, compared to how he was thriving earlier in the year, this production has been a little bit of a step back.
There's no denying he's an MVP candidate and one of the best hitters in the sport. But with Nick Kurtz, Bobby Witt Jr., and Yordan Alvarez all playing great, they've jumped in front of Rice in the MVP polling right now.
Alvarez is the first-place MVP candidate in the AL right now, and for good reason. He has the best OPS in baseball at 1.031, he has a .308 batting average (7th), and 25 homers, tied for third-most in baseball.
For as good a start as Rice had to the year, he's cooled off a lot and is not looking likely at all to win the AL MVP award this season.
He could get hot once again, though he'd need Alvarez, Witt, and Kurtz to slow down a bit as well. Rice received just two first-place MVP votes, while Kurtz got one, Witt received six, and Alvarez got 21.
This is Alvarez's award to lose at this rate, and since Rice's struggles, it's clear he's got an uphill battle to win this award.
Looking at bWAR, Rice isn't even in the top-10 among all American League players, with Witt at 4.3, Kurtz at 3.8, and Alvarez (due to being a designated hitter) is at 3.6 bWAR.
Rice has just 1.6 bWAR, well behind the rest of the top candidates for the award. He's not looking likely to win the MVP this season at all right now, which is a shame considering his 1.056 OPS coming into June, that's dropped drastically to a .632 OPS this month.
Continue reading...
