Will Benson

Will Benson

26-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Cincinnati Reds
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Something clicked for Benson during his five-week stint in the minors in April and May. A first-round pick in 2016, he made changes to cut down on his whiffs in 2022, but it wasn't enough to convince Cleveland as the Guardians traded traded him across state to Cincinnati just before spring training. While those aforementioned changes did not pay immediate dividends at the major-league level, Benson put everything together with Triple-A Louisville and would go on to be one of the Reds' best hitters over the final four months of the season. From May 30 on, Benson hit .296/.389/.542 with 34 extra-base hits -- including eight triples -- to go along with 19 steals in 22 attempts. It was a remarkable turnaround, but Benson is a strict platoon player for manager David Bell and the stickiness of his plate-skill improvements is still in question. The 25-year-old had over 300 plate appearances following his return to the majors, but that's not enough of a sample to draw any definitive conclusions. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#282
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Reds in March of 2024.
Swipes another bag
OFCincinnati Reds
September 22, 2024
Benson went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Pirates.
ANALYSIS
Benson, who has started just five of 19 games this month, was in the starting lineup for a second straight contest. He singled, stole second base and waltzed home on an Elly De La Cruz home run. The stolen base was Benson's second in as many games and upped his season total to 16.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
15
11
1
4
20
40
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
5
7
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+67%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+29%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+135%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
+187%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .461 121 9 1 9 4 .143 .242 .219
Since 2022vs Right .771 657 91 24 68 31 .238 .323 .448
2024vs Left .526 71 3 1 7 3 .153 .271 .254
2024vs Right .676 317 38 13 36 13 .194 .274 .401
2023vs Left .400 44 4 0 2 1 .146 .205 .195
2023vs Right .938 285 47 11 29 18 .297 .389 .549
2022vs Left .167 6 2 0 0 0 .000 .167 .000
2022vs Right .479 55 6 0 3 0 .200 .259 .220
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+4%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+8%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+22%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .710 385 47 17 42 13 .197 .295 .415
Since 2022Away .737 393 53 8 35 22 .249 .326 .411
2024Home .675 192 24 9 24 5 .178 .272 .402
2024Away .626 196 17 5 19 11 .195 .276 .351
2023Home .840 150 19 8 17 8 .234 .340 .500
2023Away .882 179 32 3 14 11 .308 .385 .497
2022Home .422 43 4 0 1 0 .158 .238 .184
2022Away .513 18 4 0 2 0 .235 .278 .235
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Stat Review
How does Will Benson compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.26
 
BB Rate
10.3%
 
K Rate
39.7%
 
BABIP
.282
 
ISO
.190
 
AVG
.187
 
OBP
.274
 
SLG
.376
 
OPS
.650
 
wOBA
.288
 
Exit Velocity
89.4 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
34.4%
 
Barrels/PA
5.7%
 
Expected BA
.184
 
Expected SLG
.340
 
Sprint Speed
24.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
36.3%
 
Line Drive %
19.5%
 
Fly Ball %
44.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Will Benson See More
Lineup Lowdown: National League
11 days ago
Ozzie Albies has temporarily given up switch hitting after returning from a broken left hand, but he's Atlanta's No. 2 hitter against both righties and lefties nonetheless.
The Z Files: What It Takes
32 days ago
Todd Zola provides some data to help you determine whether even Aaron Judge is capable of slugging your team into contention over the season's final stretch.
Lineup Lowdown: National League
38 days ago
Oneil Cruz has moved to to center field in one of the more significant recent changes to National League lineups.
Lineup Lowdown: National League
53 days ago
Adrian Del Castillo has hit the ground running after getting called up to replace the injured Gabriel Moreno, but how often will he play?
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Capital Gains
63 days ago
With seven home games, Washington Nationals hitters like CJ Abrams top Todd Zola's hitter rankings for the Week of August 5 to August 11.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2020
2018
2017
Benson made his major-league debut in 2022, but he was limited to a reserve role for much of his time with the Guardians. A lackluster .182/.250/.200 slash line over 61 plate appearances contributed to his minimal playing time, as did the Guardians' fairly steady outfield. That lineup logjam won't clear to begin 2023, so Benson is going to have to earn his at-bats. His work in the minors -- .275/.424/.516 slash line, 17 home runs, 16 stolen bases in 89 Triple-A games last year -- is encouraging. He's got the potential to be a useful power/speed threat, but he probably won't hit all that consistently. If his glove is good enough, he could at least challenge Myles Straw for playing time in center field, where Benson would have the platoon advantage.
Benson hit .180 at Low-A in 2018 and hit .189 at High-A to close out 2019. In between, he slashed .272/.371/.604 with a 172 wRC+ as a 20-year-old at Low-A. He had a .332 ISO in the Midwest League, showing off his top tool -- 70-grade power. He also has at least above-average speed, racking up 27 steals on 31 attempts across the two stops. Even at his worst, Benson walks at least 12% of the time, so a high strikeout rate isn't a death sentence for him, as he proved while he was the Midwest League's best hitter in the first half last year (30.1 K%). The last time he repeated a level, he took that league by storm. He will try to reprise that feat this year in the Carolina League. Of all the tooled-up outfield prospects who probably won't hit enough to be big-league regulars, Benson may have the highest upside, and unlike many, his tools have actually showed up in games above rookie ball.
Nothing has changed regarding Benson's ceiling, which is still among the highest in the minors. He fell to the Indians with the No. 14 pick in 2016 because of widespread concerns about his hit tool, and so far those concerns have been validated. Consider, however, that he hit .238 and struck out 33.9 percent of the time and was still the fifth best hitter (146 wRC+) in the New York-Penn League. This speaks to his prodigious raw power (he led the league with 10 home runs and a .238 ISO) and his patience (13.1 percent walk rate). He was also the youngest hitter in the league, and won't turn 20 until June. Benson is a good runner for his size (6-foot-5, 225 pounds), but he is unlikely to be much of a threat on the bases when he reaches the majors. Even when he is struggling, he demonstrates good body language and reportedly has an excellent work ethic, so there are reasons to believe that this is a player who will continue to improve each season.
One could argue Benson has the most upside from the entire 2016 draft class. The potential for plus-plus power and average speed was enough for the Indians to pop him with the No. 14 pick, despite significant questions about his hit tool. Benson is a 6-foot-5, 225-pound giant of a man, and yet he is barely a man -- he will not turn 19 until June. It is possible, however, that the physical dimensions that make his power potential so intriguing will also prevent him from ever actualizing that power against upper-level pitching. His long levers and musclebound upper body currently prevent him from making consistent contact. He hit .209 and struck out 32.6 percent of the time in the Arizona League, but was still an above-average hitter (112 wRC+) thanks to his power (.215 ISO) and patience (12 percent walk rate). Benson is a lottery ticket, plain and simple. It is unlikely that he will reach the majors before 2021, even under the best circumstances.
More Fantasy News
Steals base in win
OFCincinnati Reds
September 21, 2024
Benson went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 8-3 win over Pittsburgh.
ANALYSIS
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Enters as pinch hitter
OFCincinnati Reds
September 20, 2024
Benson entered Thursday's game as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-2 in a 15-3 loss to Milwaukee.
ANALYSIS
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On bench, but over finger injury
OFCincinnati Reds
September 19, 2024
Benson (finger) remains out of the lineup for Thursday's game against Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Not starting Sunday
OFCincinnati Reds
Finger
September 15, 2024
Benson (finger) is absent from Sunday's lineup against the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting again Saturday
OFCincinnati Reds
Finger
September 14, 2024
Benson (finger) isn't in the Reds' lineup Saturday versus Minnesota.
ANALYSIS
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