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Sunday baseball notes

Cohasset’s Ben Rice turned a setback into a comeback with the Yankees

Ben Rice had a .787 OPS, 24 extra-base hits, and 26 RBIs in his first 60 games.Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

It’s a huge achievement to make it to the major leagues. It’s a much bigger one to stay there.

Ben Rice made his debut with the Yankees last June 18 and singled in his second at-bat. The 26-year-old Cohasset native soon became the starting first baseman and on July 6 hit three home runs against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

He was the first rookie in team history to homer three times in a game. His seven RBIs that day were the most for a rookie since Lou Gehrig in 1925.

Rice was the biggest star in the biggest market for a few days, but he hit .112 over his next 35 games and was sent back to the minors on Sept. 1. Rice was called up late in the season, played one game, then wasn’t used in the postseason.

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The former Nobles standout returned home determined not to be one of those baseball comets who flash across the sky and aren’t seen again.

“You don’t want to just have a taste, you want the whole thing,” Rice said. “You want to be in this league for the rest of your career. You want to prove to yourself that you can get back. That was definitely motivating.”

Rice could have gone to Driveline, or one of the facilities players flock to in Arizona or Florida. He stayed home. His father, Dan, was his batting practice pitcher.

Dan Rice pitched at Brown, so he’s not lobbing it in there.

“He throws strikes,” Rice said. “And it’s a good way for us to spend time together. Most of the stuff that I was working on was stuff that I talked to the [Yankees] coaches about and from my own self-evaluation.

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“You hear guys talk about these places they went to work out in the winter. That’s not my kind of thing. I knew what I had to do.”

Rice added 10 pounds of muscle and worked relentlessly on his swing. It has paid off with a .787 OPS, 24 extra-base hits, and 26 RBIs in his first 60 games.

He’s been the regular DH with nine starts at first base. The impending return of Giancarlo Stanton from the injured list will change how Rice is used; manager Aaron Boone has said Rice could get at-bats as a catcher.

However it works, the Yankees want to keep Rice in the mix.

“He’s a different hitter now,” Boone said. “The work he did, he took into the games.”

The data bears that out. Rice improved his bat speed from 71.4 to 79 m.p.h. He raised his percentage of hard-hit balls from 36.7 to 56.0 and his average exit velocity climbed from 90.0 to 94.1.

In short, he executed his offseason plan.

“I had to get stronger and put more into the ball,” Rice said. “That gives me a little more room for error. But also it was looking back at last year and the whole experience and trying to figure out what are the small things I could do to clean up my swing and improve my approach.

“I learned how to tailor that to the way pitchers were attacking me.”

Getting demoted last season was a setback. Rice turned it into a positive.

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“It’s something a lot of guys go through,” he said. “You end up learning from it. Going back down to Triple A gave me a good window of time to really work on some things and take the pressure off.

“I had to get back to being my old confident self out there. You want to build on what you did and not have it be a fluke that I got here once.”

Ben Rice celebrates after hitting a home run against the Orioles in April.Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press
Back to basics?

Fundamentally unsound Red Sox need a change

How many times will it take for an outfielder to ignore the cutoff man or for a ground ball between the mound and first base to turn into a single before the Red Sox do something to fix their poor fundamentals?

It goes beyond leading the majors in errors. The mental mistakes are adding up.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow knows something has to change, but is it personnel or process?

“I think we’re trying to identify precisely what that is,” Breslow said. “If you come out here before [batting practice], we’re working on fundamentals every day — and in a way that I think is focused and targeted and intentional.

“At some point it’s up to the players in the game to execute.”

Breslow is right, the Sox do plenty of pregame work and the players are ultimately responsible for how they play. That raises the question of whether the players are being taught correctly in the minors.

Some of the worst offenders are players who were first drafted or signed by the Sox.

“These types of mistakes have caused us to look systematically at how we’re developing and teaching defense,” Breslow said. “We need to ask ourselves: are we calibrated in the right way? It’s great to be able to get the balls, but if you’re not turning them into outs, it doesn’t matter.”

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That brings scouting into question. Talent is what matters, obviously, but being able to make a great throw isn’t worth much if you’re always throwing to the wrong base.

“We’ve talked a lot about the teaching moments [and] the opportunity to introduce more team elements and team defense,” Breslow said.

“So much of baseball and skill acquisition is individual, targeted work. Maybe we haven’t spent enough time thinking about interactions of players with each other and getting the group together.”

That Breslow acknowledges the Sox have a systematic issue to correct is the first step. The organization has to devise a way to fix those issues.

“At some point it’s up to the players in the game to execute," Breslow said.Charles Krupa/Associated Press

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ Something to file away: When asked about how well Marcelo Mayer has been playing third base since being called up, Alex Cora praised the rookie’s sense of timing on the field and said he could play all four infield positions. “I bet he could play first base,” Cora said.

Alex Bregman is progressing more quickly than expected from his quad strain. Once he returns, moving Mayer to first base is clearly an option.

Masataka Yoshida is getting an interesting honor.

Starting on Monday, Major League Baseball will begin installing custom manhole covers at locations in Japan to celebrate the 12 Japanese players in the league.

The covers, designed by different artists, will tell each player’s history and reflect their style. They will be located in an area associated with the player.

For Yoshida, the cover will be in his hometown of Fukui and is set to be installed on June 26. It features a cartoon-type painting of Yoshida swinging a bat at Fenway Park with the expression, “Yuiitsu muni.” It means one of a kind.

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“It’s not something that has been done before, so it’s really interesting,” Yoshida said. “Having that in my hometown is really huge.”

After helping Japan win a gold medal in the 2020 Olympics, a mailbox outside a post office in his hometown was painted to recognize his achievement.

As for baseball, Yoshida has not played all season while he rehabs his surgically repaired right shoulder. He is able to hit and believes he could help the team in that way, but the Sox want him able to play the outfield before he is activated.

With Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rob Refsnyder on the roster, it’s hard to see where Yoshida would fit.

A graphic of the manhole cover in Japan honoring the Red Sox' Masataka Yoshida. MLB

Chris Murphy last pitched for the Red Sox on Sept. 27, 2023. The lefthander blew out his elbow in spring training of 2024 and had Tommy John surgery.

He is now on a rehab assignment and has appeared in six games, topping out at two innings. Murphy has allowed two runs on eight hits over eight innings and struck out nine with four walks.

The Sox are preparing Murphy as a reliever. Beyond Aroldis Chapman, the Sox have lefties Brennan Bernardino, Zach Penrod, and Justin Wilson on the 40-man roster.

Jhostynxon Garcia, a 22-year-old outfielder, got off to a hot start with Triple A Worcester, hitting .346 with a 1.054 OPS, six home runs, and 13 RBIs in his first 19 games.

“The Password” is a physical presence at 6 feet, 225 pounds, and brings righthanded power to the table.

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Rafael Devers was one of 14 players who has started every game for their team going into the weekend. Of that group, only Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso have a higher OPS.

Etc.

CCBL season gets going

The Cape Cod League season got underway on Saturday and five games are scheduled for Sunday.

The CCBL remains the nation’s top wood bat summer league, with prospects from across the country coming to play for Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Cotuit, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Orleans, Wareham, and Yarmouth-Dennis.

The 40-game schedule runs through Aug. 3 before the playoffs start on Aug. 5. The games are free to attend. Check CapeCodLeague.com for the latest information.

Former major leaguers Dennis Cook (Chatham) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Falmouth) are new managers this season along with longtime college coach Loren Hibbs (Cotuit).

The Orleans roster is expected to include North Carolina State infielder Luke Nixon (Trot’s son) and Dallas Baptist righthander Luke Pettitte (Andy’s son).

Northeastern All-American Harrison Feinberg is with Harwich, as is Wake Forest catcher Matt Conte, an Andover native who was the state Player of the Year in 2024 while at Dexter Southfield.

The league has selected Gary Alexander (Orleans 1986), Nick Gonzales (Cotuit 2019), Travis Jankowski (Bourne 2010-11) and Pat Pinkman (Wareham 1999-2000) to its Hall of Fame, along with 1957 batting champion Bill Walker (Chatham) and longtime coach, manager, and administrator Bob Stead (Yarmouth-Dennis and Bourne).

That ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 16.

Extra bases

Sandy Alcantara went 12 innings allowing two earned runs on seven hits and striking out 10 with two walks in his last two starts. Don’t be surprised if the Marlins move quickly to trade him as his value starts to rise after a poor start to the season. Alcantara is only 29 and is signed through 2026 with a $21 million team option for 2027. Miami president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is in rebuilding mode and won’t want to miss his chance … Pirates righthander Paul Skenes had a 1.49 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 11 starts from April 14 to June 8. He was 3-5 and the Pirates were 5-6. He allowed more than two runs once … Adrian Beltré and Cole Hamels made the long trip to Korea to attend the retirement ceremony for former Rangers teammate Shin-Soo Choo this weekend. Choo played in the majors from 2005-20, then in Korea from 2021-24. He had 2,057 hits, 272 home runs, and 208 stolen bases between the two leagues … Seven players with New England connections are set to attend the MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field, which starts on Tuesday and runs five days. The 322 players who accepted invitations include Vanderbilt RHP Cody Bowker (Bowdoinham, Maine), MIT righthander Mason Estrada, Maine lefthander Caleb Leys (Middletown, R.I.), Northeastern center fielder Cam Maldonado, Stanford righthander Matt Scott (West Redding, Conn.), Michigan righthander Dylan Vigue of Leominster and Groton School, and Richmond catcher Jack Arcamone of Fairfield, Conn. Estrada was 6-0 with a 2.21 ERA for MIT and struck out 66 in 40⅔ innings. He’s an aerospace engineering major from Louisiana who will transfer to Tennessee next season depending on how he fares in the draft … The Mets are putting together a three-inning Old Timers Game for Sept. 13. Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez, Mike Piazza, and Billy Wagner are among those who have committed to play … Kansas City rookie Jac Caglianone had a four-hit game last Sunday in his sixth game. The last Royals player to do that so early in his career was Bo Jackson, who needed five games. By the way, Jac is not his name. It’s Jeffrey Alan Caglianone and he goes with his initials … Shohei Ohtani threw 44 pitches over three innings in a simulated game on Tuesday and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said there is some chance he could pitch in a game before the All-Star break. Ohtani has not pitched since Aug. 23, 2023. He had Tommy John surgery on Sept. 19 that season … Another pitcher on the comeback trail, Rich Hill, had a 3.79 ERA in his first four minor league games since joining the Royals organization. The 45-year-old lefthander can opt out of his minor league contract if he is not promoted to the majors by Sunday … Kiké Hernández has pitched in three games for the Dodgers this season, allowing one earned run. On Tuesday, he entered in the sixth inning in San Diego with the Dodgers trailing, 9-0, and finished the game, going 2⅓ innings. It was the earliest the Dodgers had ever used a true position player to pitch in a game. Teams cannot use a position player unless they trail by eight runs. It paid off as the Dodgers used seven relievers the next day to beat the Padres, 5-2 … Nick Pivetta opened the season 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA over seven starts. He then went 1-1 with a 5.34 ERA in the six starts that followed … Eduardo Rodriguez, at worst, will finish his career having made $132.4 million. He’s 86-60 with a 4.18 ERA and has made more than 24 starts only three times over nine full seasons not counting this season. Rodriguez is 5-7 with a 5.69 ERA in 21 starts for the Diamondbacks since agreeing to a four-year, $80 million deal before the 2024 season … The Athletics will host a ground-breaking ceremony in Las Vegas on Monday to mark the beginning of construction of their new ballpark. The first Opening Day isn’t expected until 2028. Meanwhile, Oakland is 12-23 in Sacramento and the poor condition of the field at Sutter Health Park has become a topic of conversation around the league … Happy birthday to Wade Boggs, who is 67 and surely celebrating this birthday a little more after overcoming prostate cancer in February. The Hall of Famer had a career .415 on-base percentage, 27th all time and the sixth-best since 1960. Boggs played 266 games in Triple A, hitting .322 with a .416 OBP before he was called up in 1982. And people thought Roman Anthony had to wait too long … Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures out there, especially my dad. Who knew that buying a program and a 10-cent pencil to keep score during my first game at Fenway Park would lead to all this?


Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.

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