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Ben Rice hadn't grabbed many headlines his first 14 games filling in for injured 1st baseman Anthony Rizzo.   The lefty-hitting Dartmouth grad ramped things up on the 4th of July, with a laser of a home run against the Reds, his first in the majors.  I captured the swing (above) and the ball landing in the right field seats (below), 

Two days later, on Saturday, Rice was the story: leading off the bottom of the 1st with a solo homer, and adding a pair of three-run blasts later in the game to become the first Yankee rookie ever with a three-home run game.   Watch it land in the right field seats.
(Below:)  Trayce Thompson popped a couple of home runs in spring training.  And while he didn't make the opening day roster, he was "just a phone call away" at Syracuse, where he smacked 16 homers in 62 games.  But that wasn't enough to convince GM David Stearns that he was a better choice to fill in for Starling Marte than DJ Stewart or Ben Gamel.  So the son of Lakers legend Mychal Thompson and brother of current NBA star Klay Thompson requested and received his release.
While Thompson spent a half-season in the Mets organization, Duke Ellis' stay was a lot shorter.  The speedy outfielder, who stole 57 bases in the White Sox organization two years ago -- and four for Chicago earlier this season -- joined New York picked him up on waivers in June and was assigned to AA Binghamton, where I saw him a couple of weeks ago.  Juggling roster space with a couple of pitchers coming off the injured list, Ellis was waived and soon moved on to the Mariners.
(Below:) Frankie Montas' tenure with the Yankees was short, expensive and unproductive.  Picked up at the 2022 trade deadline for three young pitchers including JP Sears and Ken Waldichuck, the former Athletic stumbled down the stretch in 2022 and after a couple of injuries appeared in just one game last year before leaving for Cincinnati as a free agent.  Last Thursday, I was at Yankee Stadium as he made his return to the Bronx, when he turned in another ordinary start -- giving up four runs in 4-1/3 innings.





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