If you look at the top hitters this month, you will see household names such as Freddie Freeman, Rafael Devers and José Ramirez among the leaders in average. You will see Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber among the home run leaders, and Jackson Chourio, Francisco Lindor and Bobby Witt Jr. leading the way in stolen bases.
There are also plenty of hot bats from unexpected sources that will sneak in among those big names, but you must determine if they’re worth rostering for the long haul or if they will disappear after a red-hot stretch (remember Kyren Paris?).
In his first 10 games since being recalled, Cincinnati’s Will Benson hit .400 with five homers (all of which came in four consecutive games), 11 RBIs, seven runs, a stolen base and a 1.471 OPS.
That kind of performance, no matter how small the sample size, will garner attention, and it’s deserving because this is a player who hit 104 round-trippers and stole 102 bases over four seasons in the minors. This is a player who showed off his power and speed potential in 2023 when he smashed 11 homers and stole 19 bases while hitting .275 in 108 games despite striking out in 31.3 percent of his plate appearances. Heck, he hit 14 dingers and stole 16 bases in 128 games last year, despite hitting .187 and striking out in nearly 40 percent of his plate appearances.
