The New York Yankees are preparing for life without Giancarlo Stanton to begin the regular season, and it appears there’s a front-runner to replace him.

Given their lack of desire to overextend themselves too far beyond the $301 million luxury tax threshold, the Yankees are unlikely to make a splash move in free agency or the trade market to find Stanton’s replacement in the lineup. That means internal options become more viable.

With just over a week until Opening Day, there’s a leader in the competition for that spot as Brenden Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic predict it will be left-handed slugger Ben Rice.

The Yankees have been impressed with what they have seen from Ben Rice, who’s done more than put on a bunch of muscle and hit the ball harder than ever. He’s been focusing on trying to hit toward center and left-center field, particularly while working in the cages, assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler said. Last season, during his major-league debut, Rice appeared at times “one-dimensional” — looking to pull while getting a bit too aggressive, the coach said. He should end up with the starting DH job in Stanton’s absence.

Rice burst onto the scene last year after Anthony Rizzo went down with a broken forearm at the beginning of summer. The 25-year-old had some moments, including a three-homer game against the Boston Red Sox.

However, the promising slugger hit a wall during August and September, finishing his rookie campaign with a .171 batting average and 72 OPS+. It was even worst against left-handed pitching as Rice logged a .135 batting average and .483 OPS against southpaws.

He’s looked like a different hitter this spring, though. Rice has four home runs and an .899 OPS in 48 plate appearances across 14 games in spring training. His improvements have been enough to give him a shot to begin the season as the starting designated hitter.

There still hasn’t been an updated timeline for Stanton’s return, but it appears Rice is the favorite to replace him.

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