Will Benson

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William Buchanan Benson

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Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder Will Benson was drafted 14th overall by the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 amateur draft. He began his career that year with the AZL Indians, hitting .209/.321/.424 in 44 games, his best asset being clearly his power as he banged 10 doubles, 3 triples and 6 homers. In 2017, staying in shorts-season ball, he played 56 games for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League, where he hit .238/.347/.475. He hit 10 homers and drove in 36 runs. However, he regressed in 2018 when assigned to the Lake County Captains of the Midwest League, as he hit just .180/.324/.470 in 123 games. He showed good patience at the plate with 82 walks (against 152 strikeouts) and hit 11 doubles and 22 homers, still displaying good power when he did make contact. He also finished strong, with 4 homers and a .357 average in his final week. On April 18, 2019, playing for Lake County, he hit home runs in his first four at-bats against the South Bend Cubs, two solo homers, a two-run homer, and a grand slam. He was the first minor league player with a four-homer game since Mike Ford in 2014; coincidentally, Ford made his major league debut that same night. He was promoted to the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League later that season, playing a total of 123 games and batting .230/.331/.454 with 22 homers and 78 RBIs.

His career was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic which shut down the minor leagues in 2020, but he managed to play a few games in the independent Constellation Energy League, set up near Houston, TX to give players temporarily out of a job a change to play some competitive baseball. He played 24 games for Team Texas, hitting .143, with most of his opponents having professional experience at a higher level than him. In 2021, he started the year in AA with the Akron RubberDucks of what was called the Double-A Northeast for that season only and then earned a late-season promotion to AAA with the Columbus Clippers, where he hit .161 in 27 games. He had done better at Akron, with a slash line of .231/.374/.470 in 80 games, with 14 homers and 42 RBIs.

He made his major league debut with the re-named Cleveland Guardians on August 1, 2022. He had done very well in his second season at Columbus, batting .279/.426/.522 in 89 games, with 20 doubles, 17 homers, 75 runs and 45 RBIs. With Cleveland, he hit .182 in 28 games with only one extra-base hit, a double, 8 runs and 3 RBIs. He made one appearance in the postseason, making an out in his only at-bat against the New York Yankees in the Division Series. On February 8, 2023, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in return for OF Justin Boyd and a player to be named later. The trade was made in recognition that it would have been difficult for the Guardians to find playing time for Benson in a crowded outfield, whereas the Reds could give him the playing time needed to become a productive major league hitter.

Benson's struggles in the low minors were not entirely unexpected, as he was more of a basketball player than a baseball player in high school. In fact he had turned down a scholarship to play basketball at Duke University to sign with the Indians. They were confident that his tremendous athleticism would shine through once he concentrated on baseball and gained experience, which is largely what happened.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jonathan Mayo: "Nearly a Duke hoopster, Benson embracing the process", mlb.com, April 9, 2018. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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