Tino Martinez, the Yankees' World Series hero, has praised Yankees first baseman Ben Rice, who he believes is the real deal. This comes after Martinez, then with the Mariners, experienced a turning point in his career, when he was introduced to play against left-handed pitchers. He batted 41 points higher against southpaws than against righties and had an OPS differential of more than 100 points. Martinez believes Rice needs to play every day and that his planned platoon with Paul Goldschmidt is already obsolete due to Rice's strong performance. Despite this, Martinez sees improvement in Rice's defense that could further limit Goldschmid's playing time.