Ben

Rortvedt

It doesn’t sound like a major issue, but Rortvedt’s right shoulder is his throwing shoulder, so the team doesn’t want him behind the plate in games until he feels fully healthy. The 27-year-old will enter the season as the backup to Danny Jansen, but given Jansen’s spotted injury history, Rortvedt could find himself starting the majority of games at some point this season.

Rortvedt was the starting catcher for the Rays for a brief moment in 2024 but that seems unlikely to be duplicated in 2025 with Danny Jansen now in town. Rortvedt is a good defensive catcher and competent enough as a hitter that he makes for a fine backup, but he should remain off fantasy radars.

Rortvedt wound up missing a handful of contests earlier this week while on paternity leave. The 26-year-old backstop is batting .247 with three homers, 28 RBI and one steal in 258 plate appearances over a career-high 87 contests this season in his Rays debut.

Alex Jackson will catcher while Rortvedt is away. Rob Brantly was added to the roster to serve as the backup.

Rortvedt’s home run came in a one-run game in the sixth inning and broke the game open for the Rays. It traveled 392 feet at 103.7 mph and was the catcher’s third home run of the season. Rortvedt is slashing a solid .274/.369/.390 on the season and is now 15-for-45 (.333) in June with three home runs and 14 RBI in 14 games. He plays four or five games a week for the Rays and is slowly pushing his way onto the radar in one-catcher leagues and needs to be rostered in all two-catcher formats.

Rortvedt provides the Rays with a quality backup catcher behind relatively unproven starter René Pinto. The 26-year-old backstop only got into 32 contests for the Yankees after being acquired from the Twins just prior to the 2022 season.

At 109.3 mph, Rortvedt had the hardest hit ball of the game. Expectations are that the Yankees will carry Austin Wells to split time with Jose Trevino, but Rortvedt is out of options and could make things interesting with a strong spring. There’s a good chance someone will want him if the Yankees put him on waivers; he hasn’t hit at all in the majors, but he’s strong defensively and there’s still the chance he won’t be a total zero offensively.

Well went 2-for-10 with a pair of RBI and also turned some heads with his defensive prowess during a three-game series against the Astros. The 24-year-old backstop figures to play regularly down the home stretch as New York’s primary backstop. It’ll be Ben Rortvedt handling the catching duties on Tuesday night with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the mound.

With their playoff hopes hanging in the balance on every game, the Yankees are trotting out their usual starting lineup for Thursday’s day game. That includes Higashioka starting for Ben Rortvedt behind the plate with lefty Patrick Corbin on the hill for Washington. Higashioka is hitting just .228/.267/.386 in 79 starts on the season.

Trevino said the wrist has been a problem for him since the spring. Since he’s not coming back, the Yankees could look for outside help behind the plate. Still, they probably have bigger priorities. Ben Rortvedt, a left-handed hitter likely to start primarily versus righties, will likely be adequate while paired with Kyle Higashioka.