Inside the conversations that turned around Will Benson's season with the Reds
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Will Benson boarded the plane from Chicago to Boston with a .074 batting average in 2023.
At the time, Benson was the new guy who wasn’t hitting. He was only in the big leagues because former Reds outfielder Wil Myers was on the injured list with a kidney stone, and the Reds called up Benson to provide some outfield depth before the expected demotion back to Triple-A.
On that plane ride on May 28, Reds first baseman Joey Votto started a conversation with Benson. They talked about hitting. Votto explained the importance of Benson making the path of his swing more consistent. Votto said that the first step toward Benson developing a repeatable swing was his pre-game preparation. During the plane ride, the 17-year veteran worked with the 25-year-old outfielder to develop a new and improved plan at the plate.
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Votto's advice to Benson had quick impact
In Benson’s next game, he picked up three hits in a win over the Boston Red Sox, including a fastball that he drove off of the Green Monster for a triple.
“I knew at that point that what I was trying to do was correct,” Benson said. “There was a lot I was trying to grasp. I’m thankful Votto took the time and broke down some things for me. He helped a lot of things make sense. Then that triple was the moment where I thought, ‘Yeah, we’re doing this.’”
Since that game, Benson has statistically been one of the best hitters in baseball. He’s hitting .358 with a 1.039 OPS during that stretch. In that 37-day span, Benson has the sixth-best batting average, the best on-base percentage and the seventh-best OPS in MLB.
When he got called back up to MLB on May 26, Benson wasn’t supposed to get many at-bats. Then, TJ Friedl and Nick Senzel suffered minor injuries, which opened up the door for Benson to make a few more starts in the outfield. As Benson kept hitting, he held onto his roster spot as well as a regular spot in the lineup against right-handed pitchers.
Now, he’s in the middle of a 180-degree mid-season turnaround.
“He’s a heck of a ballplayer,” Reds second baseman Jonathan India said. “He plays the game the right way and plays the game the way we play here. He fits in perfectly. He’s a big part of this lineup now, and he’s showing it.”
The Reds dealt two prospects to the Cleveland Guardians in February for Benson, who had an impressive spring training in 2023 and earned a spot in the Reds’ Opening Day starting lineup. Then when the season started, Benson looked like a completely different player. He couldn’t catch up to fastballs. His swings against breaking pitches were nowhere close. He wasn’t taking confident swings.
Benson struggled early despite solid spring
Benson started his Reds career with one hit and 12 strikeouts in his first 20 at-bats. Fewer than two weeks into the regular season, the Reds optioned Benson to Triple-A.
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“The biggest challenge of April was keeping my head afloat,” Benson said. “To not play at the level I want to play, I’m all about winning ball games. I want to contribute. That weighed on me. My ability to make game-to-game adjustments was flawed just because I couldn’t really put answers together. I was digging.”
Benson knew this feeling well. Between 2016 and 2021, the Guardians’ former first-round pick went from a top prospect to a player who wasn’t getting consistent at-bats in Triple-A. During the last month of the 2021 season, when Benson was looking like he was on track to be a bust, his parents encouraged him to “give it one more year."
In 2022, Benson had one of the best statistical seasons in all of Minor League Baseball. He posted a .948 OPS in Triple-A and earned a bench spot on a Guardians team that made the playoffs. But when the 2023 regular season started, Benson was back in that rut.
“I had stuff to really fall back on and lean on,” Benson said. “I’m so thankful for my family. They are the base, the rock that I lean on. They’re consistent. They love me regardless. They want to make sure that I’m ok. They’re better at baseball IQ than I am, but they don’t know that.”
In April and May, when Benson was in Triple-A, his son, Theo, and his wife stayed in Cincinnati. Through FaceTime, Benson was seeing Theo grow. It was a challenging stretch, but Benson started to find his rhythm at the plate in Triple-A. He got called back up to MLB on May 20, but the Reds sent him back down three days later.
Benson hadn’t yet shown the Reds enough to prove that he was ready to stay in the big leagues. Because of Myers’ kidney stone, Benson got called up again on May 26 for a road series against the Chicago Cubs.
Friedl could sympathize with Benson's struggles
During that series, Reds outfielder Friedl pulled Benson aside for a conversation during batting practice.
“I just wanted to let him know that I’d been there, and I knew what he was feeling,” Friedl said. “You could tell that he was putting unnecessary pressure on himself. Unnecessary pressure will only hurt you. Last year, I put that pressure on myself, and I wasn't performing because of it. I told him not to do that.”
In 2022, the Reds optioned Friedl to Triple-A five times. He only hit .200 with a .539 OPS during the first half of the season, but Friedl eventually made a swing change that clicked. He hit .267 with a .888 OPS during the second half of the 2022 season, and Friedl has been one of the best center fielders in baseball in 2023.
Friedl hoped that Benson could follow a similar path. He told Benson to take a lesson from every stint that he had in the big leagues. Regardless of whether Benson was only going to be with the Reds for a few days or a few weeks, Friedl encouraged Benson to identify something to work on and turn this stint with the Reds into a learning opportunity.
“TJ Friedl was instrumental,” Benson said. “He knew that pressure weighed on him last year. He said that he knew what I could do. Don’t worry about the pressures. Just relax and enjoy it. “
“I wanted him to know that he didn’t have to prove himself to us,” Friedl said. “I saw him last year in Triple-A when he had a Babe Ruth-like season. I know what he’s capable of. He had to build that confidence up that he belongs here every single day on this team. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he deserved to be here.”
Benson only got two at-bats in Chicago, but he received a greater opportunity in Boston, where his season took off. As Benson kept hitting, he jumped ahead of TJ Hopkins, Jose Barrero and Stuart Fairchild on the depth chart.
On June 7, Benson blasted his first career home run for a walk-off against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Benson’s emotion showed how much the moment meant to him. He slammed his bat into the ground and pointed to the dugout. After he crossed home plate, India grabbed Benson by the jersey so he could give him a big hug.
During that homestand, Votto had a quick conversation with Benson after batting practice. Votto told Benson that he was excited to see Benson’s accomplishments but not surprised. He told Benson to not be satisfied with what he had done so far, and that Benson still had room to grow.
“He’ll laugh, but I really thank God for Joey Votto,” Benson said. “He really took the time, even while he was dealing with his rehab stuff. He sought me out, he stayed on me, he provided encouragement and he gave me good feedback. It’s been a blessing.”
Last six weeks, Benson has been among MLB's best
Benson has kept hitting, and now he’s a mainstay in the Reds’ lineup. The last six weeks have been full of game-changing moments from Benson, whose success has been a product of preparation and confidence rather than a mechanical adjustment to his swing.
When Benson gets his pitch to hit, he has proven that he can mash a line drive down the right field line.
“We all knew he could do it,” Friedl said. “To see all of his hard work pay off, not that he needed the stats to prove it, but confidence-wise, it’s really cool to see that his really hard work in Triple-A and up here is all panning out for him.”
Benson has still only played in 68 big league games. He’s younger than Spencer Steer. Benson was a first-round pick because his power and speed have always been standout traits. Now, Benson is putting all of the pieces together and playing the best baseball of his entire professional career.
“I’m very hopeful,” Benson said. “I put a lot of expectations on things. This could be big. But I understand now that for me to work my best, I have to stay level. If you start looking ahead, there’s too much going on. It’s all about what you’ve done lately. Now, winning is the only thing on my mind every day.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joey Votto helped Reds outfielder Will Benson's midseason turnaround
