Will Benson Off to Strong Start for Cincinnati Reds
Will Benson began this year as one of the most intriguing Cincinnati Reds players. David Bell and company were going to give him a shot to prove he can play everyday and rise above the platoon. So far, Benson is proving to be that every day player and that is extremely important for the Reds playoff aspirations.
Coming into this season, Benson had 50 total plate appearances against left-handed pitchers. Unless you’re making the argument that history proves it’s hard for left-handed hitters to play well against left-handed pitchers, we really didn’t have a lot of information to go on for Benson’s individual case. So he worked through the offseason to improve his ability against southpaws and it is paying off, albeit too early to make a definitive statement on.
In 12 plate appearances against lefties this year, Benson has three hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. His third hit just so happened to be his first career homer off a lefty that took place in Monday’s game. His other two hits are doubles.
The thing that I will keep watching is the strikeout to walk ratio. Entering this season, he had four walks and 16 strikeouts in his short career facing lefties. Keeping it much closer to a 1-to-1 ratio will go a long way in all the other stats looking good for him in this area.
Not to be overlooked, he has also looked solid with the glove. He still needs to work on his arm, and it may never be the kind of arm that base runners fear, but right now he is not an exception to the idea that you can run on the Reds outfield. Still, the defense is right where you want it to be.
If Benson keeps this up, it won’t be hard to say that he is an everyday ballplayer.
That ball is gone!
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) April 8, 2024
Will Benson blasts a solo home run to right field to double the @Reds' lead over the Brewers to 2-0.#Reds pic.twitter.com/5JvW1syRVl
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JEFF CARR
Jeff has hosted the only daily podcast covering the Cincinnati Reds since 2018. He’s been a life long fan of the Reds. He was at Clinchmas and the 2015 Home Run Derby. He is also the channel manager that supports all MLB podcasts on the Locked On Podcast Network. Jeff has extensive media experience as he covered college basketball and volleyball for Tennessee State and college softball for Mercer University.