If it is Saturday, then it is time for another edition of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players. After two weeks featuring players on the Los Angeles Angels, I’m moving to the Midwest and setting my sights on Will Benson of the Cincinnati Reds.
Benson isn’t a spring chicken. Now 25, he is a former first round draft pick, selected 14th overall out of high school in the 2016 draft by the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians). A left-handed hitter, Benson fits the mold of an outfielder selected in the first round as he has great size and athleticism with massive raw power.
But the road to The Show has not been easy for Benson as he spent parts of seven seasons down on the farm. So why do I think Benson is an up-and-coming dynasty player?
Let’s find out.
Road to The Show
After signing with Cleveland, he played in 44 games on the Rookie level and slugged six homers, drove in 27, and swiped 10 bases. In 2018 he led the Class A Midwest League in homers with 22 and his 82 walks ranked third. He added another 22 homers with 78 RBI and 27 steals in 2019 at Class A and High A. Those are outstanding numbers!
But there is a big downside to Benson’s game – he has a lot of swing and miss, leading to huge strikeout numbers and horrible slash lines. In 2018 he struck out 152 times in 506 plate appearances and slashed .180/.324/.370. In that 2019 season, he walked fewer times (68 walks in 514 plate appearances) while racking up 151 strikeouts and slashing .230/.331/.454.
Overall, in his seven seasons in the minors he played in 571 games and slashed .221/.353/.441 with 97 homers, 304 RBI, and 97 steals. He had a great walk rate of 15.9% but his strikeout rate was 29.6%.
Major League Statistics
| YEAR | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 55 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .182 | .250 | .200 | 33 |
| 2023 | 329 | 51 | 11 | 31 | 19 | .275 | .365 | .498 | 130 |
| 2024 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .261 | .320 | .565 | 131 |
| 162 GM AVG | 416 | 71 | 14 | 43 | 23 | .260 | .345 | .458 | 116 |
In 2022, Benson turned the corner down in the minors. Playing for Triple-A Columbus, Benson slashed .279/.426/.522 with 75 runs scored, 17 homers, 45 RBI and 16 steals through the first 89 games. The showing led Cleveland to promote Benson to the majors and he made his MLB debut on August 1st.
While Benson remained with the team over the next two months, Cleveland didn’t exactly give him a full tryout to see what he could do. He appeared in only 28 games and got only 55 at-bats for the Indians, slashing .182/.250/.200 with only three RBI. In his 61 plate appearances, he walked only three times (4.9% walk rate) while fanning 19 times for a 31.1% strikeout rate.
A Fresh Start?
During the offseason, Cleveland shipped Benson to the Reds for minor league outfielder Justin Boyd and minor league pitcher Steve Hajjer.
For Benson, the trade was a chance for a new start. But his first impression with the Reds did not go well. He broke camp with the team in 2023 but in his first eight games he was 1-for-20 at the plate with one walk and 12 strikeouts. His slash line sat at .050/.050/.145 before being sent down to Triple-A.
In Triple-A and had a very interesting time. In 29 games he hit three homers, drove in nine, and stole 11 bases. His walk rate was an amazing 24% while he reduced his strikeout rate to 26%. His OBP was .406 but his batting average was only .206. The batting average didn’t scare away the Reds because he was promoted back to the majors near the end of May and remained with the club the rest of the year.
A Better Showing
Upon his return to the Reds, Benson looked like a different player at the plate. Over the next 100 games, he scored 51 runs, hit 11 homers, had 31 RBI, and stole 19 bases in 22 attempts. His slash line was a very impressive .292/.383/.532 as he had a very nice 12.7% walk rate, though he still had a strikeout rate of 29.5%.
But that was much better than the 57.1% strikeout rate during his first stint with the team.
Why You Should Like Benson
I’ve given a rundown of Benson’s past and statistical history. And what that information tells us is that Benson has a ton of talent but has never quite put it all together. That is why he is rostered in only 32% of Yahoo leagues and a paltry 5.4% of ESPN leagues.
But here are some reasons to like Benson and target him as a depth outfielder/utility player for your team:
- As you can see from his 2023 Hitting Chart, Benson is not strictly a pull hitter. Five of his 11 home runs went to left-center field or just left of dead center along with many of his hits going to the opposite field. In his brief career, he pulls the ball 34% of the time, goes up the middle 52% of the time, and goes opposite field at a 14% clip. The more he uses the entire field, the better his numbers will become.
- Last season he had a 90.2 mph Avg. EV. The league average is 88.3 mph. This helped him have a 42.2% Hard Hit% (league average is 39.0%) and a home run rate of 3.3%, a tad higher than league average.
- So far this season, in a very small sample size, his Average EV ranks in the 99th percentile, his Barrel% is in the 87th percentile, his Hard-Hit% ranks in the 100th percentile, and his Sweet-Spot% ranks in the 96th percentile.
His career numbers suggest that he may become a platoon player. Against right-handers he has a .280/.366/.500 slash line with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 314 at-bats with a 31.5% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. Against lefties, those numbers are .137/.214/.196 with zero homers and two RBI in 51 at-bats with a 35.7% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate.
But the Reds have started him twice against left-handed pitchers already this season and is 1-for-4 against them, though with three strikeouts.
Benson is not the perfect player. If he was, he wouldn’t be featured in this article today. But he has talent, and that talent can lead to 20 homers and 20 steals, even if he is in a platoon. Last season he had 11 homers and 19 steals. So even if he falls short of 20 dingers, he should provide stolen bases. In deep leagues, any team can use a player who can produce those numbers.
Thanks for reading and come back next week.
