Griffin Benedict

Griffin D. Benedict

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 220 lb.
• School Georgia Southern University
• High School St. Pius X High School (DeKalb County)

• Born July 4, 1987 in Atlanta, GA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Griffin Benedict is the son of Bruce Benedict and grandson of Dave Benedict.

Benedict hit .440 as a high school junior. As a college freshman, he batted .303/.393/.432. He fell to .280/.395/.379 as a sophomore. His junior year, 2008, he hit .355/.441/.618 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 57 games. He was second-team All-Southern Conference. He was better yet as a senior, producing at a .412/.532/.679 clip with 14 dingers, 67 runs and 65 RBI in 58 contests. He was among the Southern Conference's top 5 in average and OBP. He was again second-team All-Conference at catcher.

He was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 16th round of the 2009 amateur draft. The scout was Ash Lawson. He split the summer between the Eugene Emeralds (.259/.348/.345 in 30 G), Fort Wayne TinCaps (6 for 21, 2 BB) and Portland Beavers (0 for 3). In 2010, he hit .229/.338/.308 in 61 games for Fort Wayne, fielding .987 as their backup catcher.

Beginning in 2011, he was a bullpen catcher for the Padres and stayed in that role through 2020. Over time he took on additional responsibilities such as working with advanced scouting or instructing players in various techniques. In 2021 Benedict joined the Iowa Cubs as a bench coach, though here again he was involved in a variety of activities. He returned to the Iowa Cubs in 2022 in the same role.

All of these different activities paid off in 2023 when the Miami Marlins hired him as their quality assurance coach under new manager Skip Schumaker. Benedict took over third base on an interim basis in mid-July after third base coach Jody Reed suffered a broken leg from a line drive. He retained the third base coaching position in 2024.

Sources

• GSU bio
• 2011 Padres Media Guide
• The Baseball Cube

Related Sites

• How Iowa Cubs coach Griffin Benedict has become a manager in the making