Inside the 'gritty' do-it-yourself league that kept Ben Rice on the Yankees' radar

Hyde called Rice “the star of the show” during NEGBL exhibitions, but other future prospects benefited from the improvised league. That includes Yankees pitcher Ben Shields, Nationals pitcher Jaren Zin, Blue Jays pitcher Alex Amalfi and Cardinals outfielder Kade Kretzschmar.

“It ended up being far more productive than we all thought going into it,” Mrowka said, making sure to credit his dad for the impactful idea. “It is kind of fun looking back at it and seeing all the great outcomes that a lot of different people had in college and the pros when it would have been easy to just kind of sulk in our bedrooms.”

As other NEGBL alumni work their way through the minors, Mrowka and Seidl are paying close attention to Rice in the majors.

Rice’s bat, which the Yankees are big believers in, has been quiet so far, producing a .231/.323/.231 slash line with zero extra-base hits over 10 games. Meanwhile, he’s held his own at a position that’s still new to him, though he botched a ground-ball in Thursday’s loss to Toronto.

Regardless of results, the fact that Rice went from limited Division I experience and pickup games to the majors in such a short amount of time is undoubtedly impressive.

Except to those who know him best.

“It sounds weird, but I’m not exactly surprised,” Mrowka said. “I’ve played with Ben since I was 13, and when I think of a professional baseball player, I think of consistency paired with talent. Ben was a late grower, but was always consistently good. He was a consistent performer. He was even professional when he wasn’t a professional.

“I don’t think we knew that he was going to get to the big leagues as soon as he has and do as well as he has, but from the amount of time that I’ve spent with him and knowing everything he puts into it and just seeing him be good day after day after day, I’m not totally surprised.”

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