A Deep Dive into Will Benson’s Good/Weird Season

Benson’s Under the Hood Numbers

On surface level, a .758 OPS and 102 OPS+ is above average, yes, but doesn’t seem like anything to boast about. However, many underlying numbers suggest Benson has been one of the unluckiest hitters in MLB this season, and his numbers should be much higher than where they currently stand.

For one, despite striking out in 26.6% of plate appearances (which is much improved from his 39.7 K% from 2024), he has just a 21.3 Chase%, which is one of the better rates in the entire league. All of his expected stats are fantastic, as well as his batted ball profile. Keep in mind, once again, his 2025 sample size is rather small, meaning he isn’t a qualified hitter yet in terms of percentiles in comparison to the rest of the league.

xwOBA – .410

xBA – . 298

xSLG – .588

Avg Exit Velocity – 93.6 MPH

Barrel% – 17.8

Hard-Hit% – 58.9

These numbers are miles ahead of his production, as his expected batting average is almost 60 points higher than his actual batting average, and his expected slugging percentage is nearly 150 points higher than his actual slugging percentage.

No game epitomizes his unluckiness this season more than May 24th, where Benson had an 0-for-3 game where he hit a 104 MPH line out that traveled 380 feet, a 103.5 MPH groundout, a 104.4 MPH sac fly that traveled 381 feet, and a 100.3 MPH line out that traveled 339 feet.

Another fun tidbit from his performance in 2025 is that Benson became the first player to hit five home runs in four games since Cincinnati legend Joey Votto did so in 2021, a feat he achieved in mid-May.

The Last Word

To take a look back on his swing and miss numbers, Benson is one of the unique hitters in the league. He still strikes out a good amount, at 26.6%, but he chases at just 21.3% of pitches outside of the zone, meaning the majority of his strikeouts come as a result of his 35.2 Whiff%. Due to his low chase rate, he does have a respectable 8.8 BB% on the year. His average exit velocity being at a blistering 93.6 MPH essentially means Will Benson has adopted the hitting philosophy of “Swing really hard at strikes and hit those strikes really hard if you make contact”.

While some may complain about his average offensive production on the year, there is no doubt Benson has what it takes to be a productive and exciting big league player, and it’s only a matter of time before we see those line outs deep into the outfield start to split the gaps and go over the wall.