Ben Rice’s unexpected magic can’t fix all of the Yankees’ glaring issues

Young Ben Rice is a nice story whether it’s a one-day story or he keeps his unexpected magic going. That the Yankees even discovered the Boston kid and Dartmouth alum was the first miracle. How many more are coming?

Yankees scouts worked overtime, staffing pickup games and practices in Northborough, Duxbury, Needham, Scituate and other Hub suburbs where Rice and aspiring Ivy League hopefuls played while the academic-first conference went on a two-year COVID break. The Yankees liked what they saw so they turned him into a 12th-round draft flyer that looks brilliant today.

Rice isn’t just a big plus because he may be that third, necessary threat in the two-superstar Yankees lineup or because he made himself the answer to a trivia question on Saturday by becoming the first Yankees rookie to have a three-homer game. He brings energy and youthful enthusiasm to a very veteran clubhouse that’s been missing that.

Rice’s huge game against the team he grew up rooting against — really, he was a Yankees fan growing up in tony Cohasset, Mass. — represented a beautiful diversion from a dismal trend. But even manager Aaron Boone wasn’t necessarily buying a carryover effect.

“I think the focus switches to today,” Boone said, honestly, before the Yankees hoped to defy their recent downturn by beating their rival Red Sox on Sunday night on national TV and logging their first winning series in nearly a month.

Rice, mature beyond his 25 years, sees it the same.

“Yesterday was obviously a thrill. I’ll never forget it. But right back at it. Best thing about baseball is there’s a game the next day,” Rice told The Post.

Rice is a lovely tale, but the Yankees still have to prove they can get back to playing the way they did the first 70 glorious games. Three areas of concern remain.

1. The Rotation

Boone expressed faith, saying, “I feel like we have the people.” But the Yankees were checking on the starting market even when things were going superbly.

The rotation, the best in baseball the first 70 games, posted an MLB-worst 7.37 ERA (and overall MLB-worst full-staff 6.36 ERA) over their 5-14 slide. If anything, one would think the return of reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole would make them better. But everyone else regressed.

Marcus Stroman has seen his ERA rise from 2.60 to 3.58. Carlos Rodon has seen his ERA go from 2.93 to 4.45. And Luis Gil, Sunday night’s starter, has seen the biggest jump of all. He had gone from 1.82 to 3.41 entering play.

Boone praised the talent, which is terrific, but conceded Gil is “a work in progress.”

The way it’s been going, it’s more like regress.

2. The Bullpen

The Yankees’ bullpen that’s been a revolving door at times has been taking their hits for not having enough “swing and miss” guys, and the numbers suggest there may be something to that. While their overall ERA of 3.63 places them eighth of 30 teams, they rank 18th with 8.62 strikeouts per nine innings.

Setup man Luke Weaver has generally been a revelation. But the Friday defeat to the Red Sox, where closer (and surprise All-Star selection) Clay Holmes gave up a game-tying homer a strike short of a win and Tommy Kahnle surrendered the game-winning homer an inning later illustrated why the Yankees have been working hardest to bolster their bullpen.

Fortunately, even in a deep sellers market overall, there should be some decent relievers out there. Even if they can’t get All-Star closers Tanner Scott or Mason Miller, several other bullpen pieces should hit the market.

3. The lineup

Boone may have solved the leadoff issue by inserting the meteor of the moment Rice into that spot, but the order still looks very top-heavy with him followed by two MVP candidates — Juan Soto and the great Aaron Judge — the six guys with an OPS plus below 100.

Based on early returns, Rice may actually be more suited to cleanup than leadoff but Boone said he likes Alex Verdugo’s “presence” there, and expressed faith in the ex-Red Sox player, suggesting he simply went through a “two to three week” stretch where he “struggled a little bit.”

They are missing Giancarlo Stanton at least as much as predicted. Boone praised some recent at-bats by Anthony Volpe, but he’s looked like 2023 Volpe lately.

Gleyber Torres, who was out of the starting lineup a second straight game with a tight groin, generally has appeared tight in this his platform year. And two-time batting champion DJ LeMahieu isn’t a threat lately (.497 OPS). He continues to play, but one wonders how much longer.

Boone couldn’t dispute the struggles of the bottom two-thirds of the batting order. “Hopefully,” Boone said, “we get other guys going.”

The Yankees have acted like they didn’t need to consider infielders on the trade market, but from here, they have little choice. The new kid provided surprising and quick satisfaction — minute Rice, if you will — but we will need to see more from many others to know they are out of their funk.