Yankees’ Ben Rice continues to solidify himself as 'one of the outstanding hitters in the league'

Lefty? Righty? Ben Rice does not care.

The Yankees said over the offseason that they wanted to give Rice more exposure to lefties this year, and he took full advantage of his first start in such situation on Sunday. The 27-year-old was right back in the lineup against tough Royals southpaw Noah Cameron , and he had no issue crushing a solo shot as part of a five-run bottom of the third. Rice lifted a 3-1 fastball up in the zone 398 feet to the second-deck in right, giving him homers in three straight games and a total of seven on the season.

He grounded out in his only other at-bat against Cameron, but is now hitting an impressive . 313 with a pair of homers and a 1. 041 OPS against lefties on the season.

“He’s made a lot of progress,” Aaron Boone said. “He handled his own against [lefties] last year and then some, so Benny’s just continuing to solidify himself as one of the outstanding hitters in the league no matter what hand you throw with. ” The numbers certainly show that to be true.