The Cincinnati Reds added a young outfielder to their spring training mix Wednesday when they acquired Will Benson in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians.
Benson, 24, hit .182 in 61 plate appearances for the Guardians last season with one double and three RBI. He drew three walks and struck out 19 times in his first taste of the big leagues.
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The Reds sent outfield prospect Justin Boyd to Cleveland, the Reds’ fourth pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, plus a player to be named or cash. Reds infielder Alejo Lopez was designated for assignment to make room for Benson on the 40-man roster.
Benson gives the reds some necessary depth. He’s a left handed hitter with great speed who can play center field. The question is whether his swing can translate from Triple-A to the majors because he can strike out a high clip. He hit .279 in 89 games at Triple-A last year with 17 homers, 20 doubles and 45 RBI while posting a .429 on-base percentage.
He was a first-round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, taking 12 picks after Reds center fielder Nick Senzel, but he wasn’t rated among Cleveland’s top prospects in recent years. Though it didn’t show up in his short stint in the majors last year, he drew a lot of walks throughout his minor league career.
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Benson joins Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl and Michael Siani as the lefthanded-hitting outfielders on the Reds’ 40-man roster. Joey Votto and switch-hitter Elly De La Cruz are the only other hitters on the 40-man roster who don’t hit right handed.
Boyd, who signed for a $847,000 bonus last summer out of Oregon State, hit .183 with zero homers and four doubles in 21 games at Single-A Daytona, a notorious pitching-friendly league. The Reds viewed Boyd as a potential center fielder, but they traded a guy who is several years from the big leagues for one who could help them immediately.
Lopez, a switch hitter, hit .262 in 156 plate appearances for the Reds last season in primarily a bench role. He totaled one homer, five doubles and 10 RBI in 59 games. The Reds have a week to trade Lopez or place him on waivers.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Will Benson traded to Reds for prospect Justin Boyd, Alejo Lopez DFA