Will Benson Is Giving the Reds the Jolt They Need
Will Benson has caught fire, leading the way for a Reds offense that needed a spark.
All offseason long, Reds fans begged the front office to do one thing: acquire an outfielder. While most had higher aspirations, the Reds’ solution was signing Austin Hays to a one-year deal. Hays is a fine a player, but it was hardly enough to take this offense to new heights.
Back in February, you looked at this team’s outfield roster and saw a glutton of fourth outfielders or fringe major leaguers. The need for a power bat and someone who can truly bring an impact in the outfield was obvious.
After Cincinnati’s offense struggled to score runs and they had filtered through Jacob Hurtubise and Blake Dunn, the team dipped down to Louisville to recall Will Benson. Benson was a player who had put up impressive numbers in 2023, but he struggled mightily last season.
If you follow the Cincinnati Reds, then you know the story on Will Benson. Lots of power, impressive speed, and a whole lot of strikeouts. This season was a truly make-or-break year for Benson, and now that he’s getting an opportunity, he’s capitalizing.
Stats taken prior to play on May 19.
Benson Has Hit the Ground Running
Since joining the Reds, Benson has done nothing but hit. Sure it has only been 30 at-bats, but Benson already has five home runs and a 1.357 OPS. Those five home runs have all come in a span of four games, including two on Sunday afternoon.
Right out of the gate, Benson has a .367/.424/.933 slash line with two doubles to go with his five long balls.
It’s not all just luck, either. Benson is truly impacting the baseball and attacking pitches. Sure, he’s struck out 27.3% of the time, but you can live with a high strikeout rate for a guy with an average exit velocity of 94.9 mph.
An area that has stood out the most from previous Benson hot streaks is where in the strike zone his hits are coming from.
Pitchers have been throwing low in the zone to Benson, a location where he hit under .200 last season, but this year has been different.
The two pictures on the left are the pitch locations of his home runs on Sunday, while the two on the right are his two doubles from this season.
Yes, the 87 mph pitch that is in the lower-middle part of the zone is one an MLB hitter should do some damage with, but that wasn’t the case for Benson last season; He hit just .127 with a .364 slugging percentage on off-speed pitches a season ago.
The picture on the far left — an inside fastball that Benson turned on — is a location where he hit one home run last season and posted a .192 batting average. The far right picture — a pitch on the outside corner of the zone — saw a .129 batting average and only one extra-base hit last season (a double).
Benson has been served a couple of middle-middle pitches this year, and he’s put them in the seats. They’re not great pitches, but I’m not going to discredit him for doing extra what he should do when the pitcher makes a mistake.
For Benson to continue on this trajectory, he’s going to have to continue to make contact on pitches in the zone. We can all agree that he has the juice to do damage, now he just needs to attack the right pitches and make contact when doing so.
A large part of last season’s struggles had to do with his 68.4% zone contact rate. To put this in perspective, the major league average is 82%. So far this season, Benson’s numbers are much closer to his 2023 number (76.2%) compared to last season.
Benson’s hot bat has now also changed the way teams can attack the lineup. Having a bat with this much power will make opposing managers ponder going to their lefty early or even pulling a starter at a different time.
At least for now, he has to be respected in a different way compared to the options used before him.
How do things go from here? Your guess is as good as mine. But, I do think we are seeing a legitimate turnaround compared to last season. Benson is still drawing his walks, providing the Reds with a boost of power and speed, and more importantly he’s given them some life.
The Reds Needed Benson’s Hot Stretch
I typically like to discuss things that can be measured. Stats and data help to tell the story — especially for me, someone who’s not inside the clubhouse. However, you can tell just by watching this team play that Benson has given them a lift.
Cincinnati was not pushing runners across the plate, and the team desperately needed some type of a jolt. The lineup was stale, and someone needed to hit them with an AED. Ben’s power and infectious energy has been a breath of fresh air.
He has been a huge reason for the four-game winning streak. There’s a different type of confidence over the past few games, and the players have to be happy about the addition of a guy who can truly make an impact being on the roster.
It might sound dramatic, and maybe it is. The Reds, or Benson, could struggle and we will look back on this as just another hot streak. Regardless, you cannot take away what he has brought this team and the impact he has made in this small sample.
I don’t think I can say with any level of confidence that the Reds would have won these games without him.
Sometimes teams just need a shift, a jump start, a change in order to start playing better baseball. It’s not impossible for Benson, and this current streak, to be just that. The real test will be how he, and the team, responds to his first slump. Will he make adjustments and get back to making an impact, or will he crater?
Time will tell. What I can say with certainty is that the Reds are a better team with him on the roster compared to the players who made it to start the season. Cincinnati needed more power in the lineup, and the addition of Benson has added just that, twice over.
Final Thoughts
Each season, good or bad, there are pockets of the year that we will remember. Memories we attach to seasons and moments for specific players.
This streak of five home runs in four games will be one of those memories. It’s not Benson’s first memorable event, either, as the walk-off against the Dodgers still pops into my head.
I’m not hear to tell you to buy into the hype or correct course from your priors. The only thing we can truly take away from a sample size this small is the moment. But, in a season with so few from the offense, I’ll happily take it.
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