Ben Rice has been hitting the ball with authority this season for the Yankees. Bill Kostroun/New York Post “I think it’s who he is — I think he’s a real hitter,” Boone said.

Rice arrived in the big leagues last summer with a splash, hitting .294 with four home runs (three in one game against the Red Sox) with a .972 OPS through his first 17 games.

And it still wasn’t the most impressive ball hit by a Yankee at BayCare Ballpark. That belonged to Ben Rice, who smoked an offering from Taijuan Walker for his fifth home run of the spring ...

Rice’s new body has yielded huge results this spring, as he entered Monday’s spring training finale against the Mets hitting .259/.328/.552 with five home runs and nine RBI.

Rice has been consistently crushing the ball over 100 mph since spring training; the latest instance came on his pivotal two-run homer in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Tigers.

There are altogether seven new rice balls in the Spring Omusubi Fair, including two of the Nissin instant noodle-inspired flavors, two flavors from FamilyMart’s mega-popular “Gochimusubi” series ...

While the Owls opened spring camp Monday it will last several weeks. Rice will get in 15 workouts around next week’s Spring break and it will lead to their Blue-Gray Spring Game set for April 13 ...

A recent MLB spring training game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Kansas City Royals had an unexpected MVP. A four-legged fan got its teeth on a home run ball, causing a moment of pure joy ...

“He’s killing the ball,” manager Aaron Boone said before Rice went 1-for-5, scalding a 104.4 mph single and 102.9 mph flyout, in a 10-4 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.

Rice’s new body has yielded huge results this spring, as he entered Monday’s spring training finale against the Mets hitting .259/.328/.552 with five home runs and nine RBI.