Will Benson doesn't get a lot of chances to play for the Cincinnati Reds lately.
But when he gets an opportunity recently, he seizes it.
The 6-foot-4 left-handed slugger is on the reddest of hot small sample sizes in the last week.
Last Friday, Benson went 1-for-4 with a triple.
On Saturday, he was 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBI and a walk.
On Sunday, Benson went 1-for-2 with another home run and two more RBI.
And on Monday, Benson got into the game for one at bat and hit a sacrifice fly.
So in his last eight at bats, Benson has 11 total bases and six RBI.
No, it's not a large enough sample to say definitively that Benson should be playing more.
But he's also one of the streakier hitters the Reds have. When Benson is going right, it feels like he's going to hit every baseball 500 feet.
The Reds can't afford to wait around and wonder. They're 2.0 games behind the final NL Wild Card spot with 12 to play. The Mets hold that spot, the Diamondbacks are 1.5 games back and the Giants are also 2.0 games back.
Cincinnati needs a red-hot finishing stretch. To do that, the red-hot Benson might be more of an X-factor than anyone would've thought a week ago.
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