Will

Benson

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.