Drew Benes

Andrew C. Benes

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.
• School Arkansas State University
• High School Westminster Christian Academy

• Born November 4, 1988 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

The son of Andy Benes, pitcher Drew Benes spent three seasons in the minors. Benes is also the nephew of big leaguer Alan Benes and minor leaguer Adam Benes.

He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 47th round of the 2007 amateur draft out of high school but did not sign. He attended Arkansas State University, hitting .234/.288/.440 as a freshman and allowing 7 hits and 5 earned runs in 3 innings pitched. Moving primarily to the mound in 2009, he had a 4-4, 8.41 record. He improved to 2-1, 3.04. He was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 35th round of the 2010 amateur draft. He made his pro debut that summer with the Johnson City Cardinals, going 1-0 with a 1.52 ERA in 18 appearances. He split 2011 between the Batavia Muckdogs (1-1, 3.15 in 6 G) and Quad Cities River Bandits (1-2, Sv, 5.40). In 2012, he ended his pro career with a 6-8, 5.31 campaign for the Palm Beach Cardinals. He tied for 9th in the Florida State League with ten hit batsmen. Overall, Drew went 9-11 with a save and a 4.57 ERA in 66 minor league games (20 starts), with 195 hits, 58 walks and 138 strikeouts in 175 1/3 IP.

Benes turned to coaching after his playing career ended. In late 2014 he joined the St. Louis Prospects Baseball Club as a coach and chief operating officer. He stayed in this role until early 2017. The Pittsburgh Pirates hired Benes in 2017 to coach in their player development system. He was a pitching coach with the West Virginia Power in 2017, the GCL Pirates in 2018, and Bradenton Marauders in 2019. He was scheduled to return to Bradenton in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Benes was pitching coach of the Altoona Curve in 2021-2022. He moved up to the Indianapolis Indians as bullpen coach in 2023. It appears Benes returned to Altoona in mid-July to replace pitching coach Cale Johnson who took a pitching coach job with Dallas Baptist University. After the season he was the pitching coach for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. He returned to Indianapolis in 2024 in the role of pitching coach.

Related Sites

• Arkansas State bio