The Guardians have selected Will Benson’s contract from Triple-A Columbus, putting the outfielder in line to make his Major League debut. In corresponding moves, outfielder Alex Call was optioned to Triple-A, while Anthony Gose was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.
Benson was selected 14th overall by Cleveland in the 2016 draft, but after posting decent but unspectacular numbers in the minors, his prospect stock gradually fell to the point that neither MLB Pipelin or Baseball America list Benson as one of the Guards’ top 30 minor leaguers. However, Benson seems to have turned a corner in his sixth pro season, and is hitting .279/.426/.522 with 17 home runs over 401 plate appearances in Columbus this year.
While this production comes with the caveat of a .340 BABIP, Benson’s 22.7% strikeout rate is far and away a career low, and is a good sign that the 24-year-old has corrected a longstanding issue in making consistent contact. If this problem has really been solved, Benson can now better unlock his natural power and bat speed, and might even have some five-tool potential. Benson also has a strong throwing arm that has mostly placed him in right field throughout his career (but he has seen time in left and center as well), and he has good speed that has allowed him to steal 86 bases in 108 opportunities.
The outfield has long been a weak link in Cleveland, yet the Guardians have now established Steven Kwan and Myles Straw as everyday options in left and center field. Right field is still a question mark, but top prospect Nolan Jones and the unheralded Oscar Gonzalez have both played well at the position, with Franmil Reyes, Josh Naylor, and Kwan also getting a handful of games in right. Gonzalez is on a minor league rehab assignment after missing a month due to an intercostal strain, so it is possible Benson might just be a short-term callup until Gonzalez is healthy.
In terms of other lineup openings, Naylor has been slowed by a balky ankle lately, though he is healthy enough to DH. Reyes has seen the bulk of DH action but he also struggled for much of the 2022 season. If the Guardians wanted more pop in the lineup, Reyes might lose playing time for other players getting rotated into the DH role, which could create more opportunity for a youngster like Benson to establish himself.
Reyes to Mets
If the Mets want Reyes they can have him.
I don’t think the Mets will be making any more deals with Cleveland for awhile.
To put in perspective how much the contact issue matters to Benson. There was a Twitter question awhile back that said “pick one prospect, and you can make one of their tools average, who do you pick”. Pretty much everyone associated with Guards prospect Twitter said Benson. He’s 6’5, he’s incredibly strong and fast. He’s got a cannon for an arm. Can defend CF with range. Can steal bases. But his K-rate was 30-35% in A ball for three straight years. It was almost 40% last year. He was like a 30 hitter on the 20-80 scale.
Him cutting that down this far is incredible
I’m beginning to think that Cleveland is giving prospects short look-sees at the ML level more to thank them for being in the system rather than thinking they are bona fide major league ready players. Gives them a little time at the ML level. Cleveland is a very player-friendly franchise.
Seems like lots of guys are coming up for a week or two then going back down and other guys replace them.
Your mind is deceiving you. They’re doing a lot of gyrations with pitchers because of injury and the general deficiency in the bullpen. They also had a long stretch of doubleheaders and no days off. If there is a bit of a rotation going on, it may have to do with sorting out the many guys they need to make a decision on for the 40 man. It’s not a “thank you” tour. That was just for Oscar Mercado.
Call, Benson and others are position players. They don’t look like guys ready to play at the ML level, and their minor league stats are hardly eye-popping. What happened to Richie Palacios, and I know Gonzalez is hurt.
Meanwhile, players such as Tyler Freeman, George Valera, Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio and others are not getting call ups. I don’t know, maybe they’re showing players to other ML teams in hopes of trading some as they have a 40 man roster crunch coming again. Teams used to do that all the time.
The term used was “showcasing”.
Once a few offseason trades fell through, Cleveland decided to play the young players to see what they had. Kwan, Gonzalez, Jones, Call, Arias, and now Benson were all at AAA. Benson was doing well at AAA Columbus and also has limited time at 1B which may be important since Naylor and Miller are both nicked up.
You have not seen Valera, Rocchio and some others since they are only at AA Akron. Arias was up for two double headers but then missed time due to an injury. Also where is Arias going to play with Ramirez, Rosario, and Gimenez all playing well. You don’t call Arias up to sit.
Cleveland is trying to see who will be part of their future and who can be used in trade. before the next wave (Valera, Rocchio, etc) are ready. We learned that Kwan is definitely part of their future with Jones showing well so far. Benson was a former #1 pick that was doing well in Columbus. He deserves and has earned a look.
The 40 man roster decisions last winter, all of which I support, have really hamstrung the Guardians. Some of the guys you see called up are expediency moves. Guy A is not on the 40 but there is a need and if you have to DFA him later his loss would not be devastating if he was claimed on waivers (e.g., Call, Tully, Castro and even McCarthy). Now, a guy like Benson? When you see him called up it is not like Call. They have called Benson up to see if he can play