Joe

Benson

Benson was batting just .179/.269/.316 with two home runs and 27 strikeouts through his first 28 games this season at the Triple-A level. He climbed all the way to the majors last year but seems doubtful to do it in 2012.

Benson homered twice and drove in 10 runs this spring in the Grapefruit League. But the Twins want him to get regular playing time, and he wouldn’t have found it in the major leagues. The 24-year-old should be up in the bigs later this summer.

Benson’s incident actually happened prior to Wilson Ramos’ kidnapping in Venezuela. The robbery occurred after the cab he was riding in crashed. While the Spanish-speaking driver was on the phone, four men approached Benson and took all of his belongings aside from a bag with his baseball spikes and some t-shirts. “When you don’t speak the language, there’s not much you can do,” said Benson. “You can’t really beg for your life. You can’t ask them not to pull the trigger. You can’t beg for mercy. I kind of sat there in silence, let everything happen.” Benson went back to the United States a few days later to regroup, but returned to Venezuela and batted .216 (11-for-51) with four RBI during his time with Tigres de Aragua. The 22-year-old was recently ranked as the Twins’ No. 2 prospect by Baseball America and figures to open the 2012 season with Triple-A Rochester.

It’s been a nightmare of a season for Benson, who was recently demoted from Triple-A Rochester to Double-A New Britain because of poor performance. The 24-year-old outfielder is doubtful to reach the majors this year. He made his big league debut last September.

Benson is working his way back from late-May wrist surgery and could be activated from the disabled list shortly after the All-Star break. The 24-year-old outfielder is doubtful to reach the majors this season.

Benson batted just .202/.288/.336 this season while missing a good chunk of the season due to hamate bone surgery. He’ll have a shot to make the roster next spring.

The September call-up was just 5-for-25 at the dish before tonight. Benson, a former second-round pick, batted 287/.389/.499 batting line with 16 home runs and 67 RBI for Double-A New Britain this season before his call-up. Depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out, the 23-year-old could be the team’s long-term answer in left field.

Benson struggled mightily at Triple-A Rochester this season, batting just .192 with one home run in 42 games. The Twins no longer viewed Benson as worthy of a 40-man roster spot and needed to clear room for Saturday’s starter P.J. Walters.

Aaron Hicks has already blown past Benson in the center-field battle, which would still be the case even if Benson were hitting .300 rather than .150. Benson’s future is likely as a reserve anyway. Barring an injury ahead of him, he’s destined for some more Triple-A time.

Benson was competing for the center field job this spring but batted just .154/.267/.288 over 17 games. The gig is expected to go to Aaron Hicks. The twins also reassigned Luis Perdomo to minor league camp.