With the Yankees‘ regular season finale scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday, Ben Rice was already working up a sweat in the batting cage shortly after noon. The 25-year-old joined the Yankees for Game 162 after a pitch left fellow first baseman Anthony Rizzo with two fractured fingers in Saturday’s loss to the Pirates.

The Yankees turned to Ben Rice to play first base for a large chunk of the year earlier in the season. They may be forced to again in October. With uncertainty surrounding Anthony Rizzo’s health heading into the postseason after he fractured two fingers on his right hand Saturday,

The Yankees announced this afternoon that they’d recalled first baseman Ben Rice from Triple-A and optioned reliever Scott Effross. The move comes a day after Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch and fractured two fingers.