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    Benson clears waivers, heads to Triple-A

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    CIN Right Fielder #30
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    Reds OF Will Benson cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville.

    Benson was sent to the minors on June 23rd after hitting .188/.310/.333 in 114 plate appearances this season with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate. He was then designated for assignment about a week later to make room on the 40-man roster and will now return to Louisville.
Williams Ks 11 in 3 straight starts for Guardians
James Schiano discusses Cleveland Guardians righty Gavin Williams' recent adjustment to his sinker and how it's produced an uptick in strikeouts after he notched 11 for a third straight start.

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  • CIN Right Fielder #30
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    Benson showed some flashes of power/speed combo fantasy potential at various points during his career, but was never quite able to establish himself as a long-term everyday option for the Reds in a corner-outfield role. The 28-year-old has been removed from Cincinnati’s crowded 40-man roster after being shipped to the minors back in late June. He figures to attract some interest on waivers.
  • CIN Right Fielder #30
    Benson is hitting just .188/.310/.333 in 114 plate appearances this season with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate. Now 28 years old and with a 33.3 percent career MLB strikeout rate in 405 games, you have to wonder if Benson’s time in Cincinnati may be drawing to a close. Noelvi Marte could also be pushed off of right field if the Reds want to play Spencer Steer out there with Elly De La Cruz back.
  • CIN Right Fielder #30
    Benson’s home run was his third of the year. He pinch hit to lead-off the bottom of the ninth inning and tied the game with a solo home run off Royals reliever Lucas Erceg. Benson is a bench bat who will continue to see most of his at-bats come against right-handed pitching.
  • CIN Right Fielder #4
    Marte has started just three times in five contests to open the season, which is a bit perplexing considering how he finished last year as one of Cincinnati’s core offensive contributors. It’s notable that he’s in the lineup to face Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler in this one. The 24-year-old former top prospect will continue splitting time with Will Benson, who is in left field on Tuesday night with Spencer Steer on the bench. The emergence of Sal Stewart and return of Eugenio Suárez has created a logjam for the Reds with Marte drawing the short straw for now.
  • CIN Left Fielder #30
    Benson has started against both right-handers the Reds have faced so far. We rather thought that’d be happening mostly at Spencer Steer’s expense, rather than Noelvi Marte’s, but as long as Benson has that strong-side platoon role, he should offer value in deeper leagues. The 27-year-old had a 15-percent barrel rate and a 54-percent hard-hit rate in his 230 plate appearances last year.
  • CIN Right Fielder #4
    Marte has now sat against both righties the Reds have faced this season, which is a bit confusing considering he had reverse splits last year. To start the year, it seems like Will Benson will be starting against right-handed pitchers, which makes it hard to roster Marte in shallower formats right now, especially considering the Reds are set to face right-handed starters in eight of their next nine games.
  • CIN Left Fielder #30
    The Reds probably wouldn’t have brought in JJ Bleday if they didn’t think he was better than Benson, but Benson, who has a 1.050 OPS through 24 plate appearances, seems like the more interesting of the two from here. Both seem likely to make the team out of spring training, and one could start against most right-handers, assuming that the Reds don’t make Spencer Steer their primary left fielder. Given that Steer has started just once in the outfield thus far, it wouldn’t seem to be the plan.
  • CIN Outfield #30
    That the Reds considered JJ Bleday an apparent upgrade from Benson doesn’t like great news for the 27-year-old, and now they could now bypass both and play Spencer Steer in left field after signing Eugenio Suárez. Still, Benson might be the Reds’ best option in left against righties. Statcast thought he was pretty unlucky to finish at .226/.273/.435 last year, and along with his improved EV numbers, he did nice work to lower his strikeout rate last season.
  • CIN Right Fielder #30
    Benson ended up at .226/.273/.435 in 253 plate appearances, but the drop in his strikeout rate from a career mark of 35.5% to 26.5% last season was encouraging, especially in combination with his career-best 54% hard-hit rate. The assumption is that the newly signed JJ Bleday will get the nod over Benson against right-handers initially, but the guess here is that Benson proves to be the better player of the two, potentially giving him some value in deeper formats.
  • CIN Center Fielder #54
    There was no avenue for Myers to play regularly next season in Miami with Kyle Stowers and Jakob Marsee emerging as core building blocks and Griffin Conine coming back from shoulder surgery. The 29-year-old, who posted a pedestrian .617 OPS with six homers and 19 steals over 333 plate appearances across 106 games for the Marlins last season, provides the Reds with a decent insurance policy behind center fielder TJ Friedl. He’ll enter spring training in competition with Will Benson and JJ Bleday for a corner-outfield role, with a bench assignment the most probable outcome.

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    Drew Cavanaugh was scratched from the Giants’ starting lineup on Friday night due to illness.

    Cavanaugh was set to start behind the dish and bat ninth for the Giants on Friday evening, but he was feeling a bit under the weather as game time approached so the club made a last minute switch. Daniel Susac will catch in his place against Grayson Rodriguez and the Angels. Cavanaugh is considered day-to-day.
  • SF Center Fielder #9
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    Harrison Bader (plantar fasciitis) has been shut down from all baseball activities and will visit a specialist over the weekend.

    Bader has been sidelined since May 30 due to plantar fasciitis. The Giants are hopeful that this visit with a foot and ankle specialist in Indianapolis will give them more clarity as to what’s going on and a potential timeline for Bader’s return.
  • SF Starting Pitcher #72
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    Giants’ right-hander Trevor McDonald (elbow) will get a second opinion after being diagnosed with a moderate UCL sprain.

    The Giants want to make sure that the ligament damage isn’t more significant before deciding on the best recovery plan for the 25-year-old right-hander. He remains without a timeline for his potential return and fantasy managers in redraft leagues are probably safe to cut bait at this stage.
  • CIN Center Fielder #59
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    Reds’ skipper Terry Francona told reporters on Friday that Blake Dunn (elbow) suffered a setback in his recovery.

    Dunn recently underwent an MRI exam on his injured elbow which revealed some ligament damage. He’s now set to get a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister. Francona admitted that surgery is now an option for Dunn, in which case his 2026 season would be over.
  • COL 3rd Baseman #12
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    Kyle Karros went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in a 5-2 win against the Brewers on Friday.

    Karros doubled and scored in the first inning, then added an RBI single in the third inning that drove in Jake McCarthy from third base. Karros breaks out of a minifunk here as he’d not cleared multiple hits in a game since the All-Star Break, but he’s still been a nice find for the Rockies — he’s hitting .263/.363/.431 in 297 at-bats, and has earned more or less full-time work despite finishing May with a .215/.316/.319 batting line.
  • MIL 2nd Baseman #2
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    Brice Turang went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Milwaukee’s loss to the Rockies on Friday.

    Turang golfed a 434-foot moonshot off Tomoyuki Sugano in the sixth inning, and the Rockies were lucky his first-inning single had no launch because it was 109 mph off the bat. Turang has been incredible through his first 97 games of the season, hitting .265/.361/.463 with 15 homers and 15 stolen bases. Fantasy managers would probably love it if he ran as much as he did in 2024 and 2025, but the extra power — he’s three away from last year’s career high 18 bombs — certainly helps.
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    Corey Seager (back) took live batting practice in a simulated game setting on Friday without any issues.

    Seager took around four at-bats during the session. He’ll repeat the process once more at some point over the weekend, and if all goes well the Rangers will discuss plans for his rehab assignment. The 32-year-old infielder has been sidelined since July 1 due to lower back inflammation.
  • COL Relief Pitcher #68
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    Jordan Romano put the first two runners on, but closed out the Brewers for his eighth save of the season on Friday.

    Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers started the inning with sharp line drive singles, but Romano was able to maneuver the bottom of the Brewers order by inducing a pop up from Joey Ortiz and striking out pinch-hitter Gary Sánchez. He got Christian Yelich to softly fly out to right field to end the game. The ride is always bumpy, but the saves Romano does get look the same in the box score even if they come with an inflated WHIP and ERA.
  • MIL Relief Pitcher #55
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    Shane Drohan allowed five earned runs in six innings against the Rockies on Friday.

    He struck out six, but allowed eight hard-hit balls. Drohan’s ERA climbs to 3.51 after his first start allowed of more than three earned runs since June 13. He’s probably earned enough benefit of the doubt at this point to trust against the Giants next week, though he is currently slated to oppose Logan Webb.
  • COL Starting Pitcher #11
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    Tomoyuki Sugano came two out shy of a quality start, throwing 5 1/3 innings against the Brewers on Friday and allowing just two runs.

    He struck out five and both runs allowed came off solo home runs to Christian Yelich and Brice Turang. There’s not much mystique to Sugano at this stage of the season -- he throws the full kitchen sink and tops out at 94 between three different fastballs. His 27 percent whiff rate here was well above his season average of 17 percent. Sugano draws a Coors Field start next week against the Royals, assuming he’s not traded before then.