<img alt="COLLEGE BASEBALL: MAY 25 Big 12 Baseball Championship - Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lHrPJrUqNB-pLJzEl-KbsKp89IE=/0x0:4417x2945/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73433474/2154177351.0.jpg">
Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
With a loud toolset and a high motor, Benge is projected as one of the better college options in the middle to later stages of the first round With the MLB draft beginning in a couple of weeks we’re going to roll through some coverage to preview the draft, looking both at the state of the Atlanta Braves system, the team’s recent trends under Alex Anthopoulos, and some of the names connected to Atlanta at 24. This is going to be the latter of those three, as we’re going to have a series of profiles on some of the names who have been mentioned in mock drafts as possibilities. Today’s look will be at Carson Benge, a talented college bat who is seeming less-and-less likely to fall to the Braves at 24.
Background
Carson Benge is one of the better athletes that will be available in this draft, being the starting right fielder for Oklahoma State along with a reliever for them. While Benge has enough upside on the mound to be a legitimate draft prospect there, he is generally viewed as a significantly better outfielder with a wide range of draft outcomes. In May MLB Pipeline released a mock draft that projected Benge to slide to Atlanta at 24, though recent projections don’t have him moving that far and have him connected as high as the Red Sox at 12th overall. However even in Pipeline’s most recent mock draft Benge was mentioned as a potential option, among a number of players who the team could target should they slip down the board that far. Benge’s two most recent projections were 19th by Pipeline and 21st by Baseball America, so a slide to 24 certainly wouldn’t be any weirder than the one made by Hurston Waldrep last season. Benge had a fantastic season at Oklahoma State, slugging 18 home runs in 61 games and posting a slash line of .335/.444/.665. This after a good showing in the Cape Cod League the previous summer it is easy to see why Benge’s arrow has been up throughout the season. Benge increased his power output this season significantly, but it did come with downsides as his strikeout rate jumped from 13.4% to 16.9%.
Profile
Benge lost his freshman year to Tommy John surgery, yet came back as strong as ever in 2023 with a 1.006 OPS in his first year for the Cowboys. Since then he has impressed with consistently high exit velocities, all fields power, and the ability to make contact in zone at a high rate. There is some possibility of him fitting in center field — the Braves are known to convert players to more premium positions to try to force them in defensively — but many see him fitting in better as a right fielder with his plus arm strength. Benge, a left-handed hitter, produces loft with his swing and has been able to tap into his raw power already in college, with little concern that it won’t translate to the professional level.
We're running out of captions for home runs. Help us out.#GoPokes | @Carsonbenge3 pic.twitter.com/6YCdDvhdcH— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) April 26, 2024
His bat speed is his standout quality at the plate, and gets the barrel to the bat well throughout the zone. He hasn’t received knocks for pitch or zone recognition at this stage, though professional quality pitching is a test to any hitter, and the Braves may look to quiet some of the moving parts of his swing if they selected him. Benge also by all reports checks the box for makeup - a focus for Atlanta in recent drafts - as a player who brings high energy and effort in the clubhouse and on the field. If Benge fell to the Braves at 24 he would likely fit in as their top position player prospect immediately, featuring a combination of on-base and power potential that no other player outside of the much riskier rookie-level prospects have displayed yet.
Projections
To go with a general sense of how this draft could shape up, I don’t think Carson Benge will be there at 24. The bat speed and plate coverage combination will be enticing to a team at the top of the draft, and at least in my evaluation it’s hard to see why you would pass on Benge in comparison to college bats in the similar range. That said Benge fits in with a solid crop of college players, such as Ryan Waldschmidt, Walker Janek, Jurrangelo Cijntje, and Brody Brecht, who are all typically projected in this range. There is a likely chance that Atlanta will have the opportunity to select one, though if they don’t prefer the one that slides to them they could end up going with a different option. Still, it seems many of the teams immediately in front of Atlanta are favoring similar sorts of talent to these guys, and while we pretty much have no real feel for how the Braves are on guys should a team above Atlanta favor a Waldschmidt or a Cijntje to Benge it could open the door to him fitting in at 24.
<img alt="COLLEGE BASEBALL: MAY 25 Big 12 Baseball Championship - Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lHrPJrUqNB-pLJzEl-KbsKp89IE=/0x0:4417x2945/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73433474/2154177351.0.jpg">
Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
With a loud toolset and a high motor, Benge is projected as one of the better college options in the middle to later stages of the first round With the MLB draft beginning in a couple of weeks we’re going to roll through some coverage to preview the draft, looking both at the state of the Atlanta Braves system, the team’s recent trends under Alex Anthopoulos, and some of the names connected to Atlanta at 24. This is going to be the latter of those three, as we’re going to have a series of profiles on some of the names who have been mentioned in mock drafts as possibilities. Today’s look will be at Carson Benge, a talented college bat who is seeming less-and-less likely to fall to the Braves at 24.
Background
Carson Benge is one of the better athletes that will be available in this draft, being the starting right fielder for Oklahoma State along with a reliever for them. While Benge has enough upside on the mound to be a legitimate draft prospect there, he is generally viewed as a significantly better outfielder with a wide range of draft outcomes. In May MLB Pipeline released a mock draft that projected Benge to slide to Atlanta at 24, though recent projections don’t have him moving that far and have him connected as high as the Red Sox at 12th overall. However even in Pipeline’s most recent mock draft Benge was mentioned as a potential option, among a number of players who the team could target should they slip down the board that far. Benge’s two most recent projections were 19th by Pipeline and 21st by Baseball America, so a slide to 24 certainly wouldn’t be any weirder than the one made by Hurston Waldrep last season. Benge had a fantastic season at Oklahoma State, slugging 18 home runs in 61 games and posting a slash line of .335/.444/.665. This after a good showing in the Cape Cod League the previous summer it is easy to see why Benge’s arrow has been up throughout the season. Benge increased his power output this season significantly, but it did come with downsides as his strikeout rate jumped from 13.4% to 16.9%.
Profile
Benge lost his freshman year to Tommy John surgery, yet came back as strong as ever in 2023 with a 1.006 OPS in his first year for the Cowboys. Since then he has impressed with consistently high exit velocities, all fields power, and the ability to make contact in zone at a high rate. There is some possibility of him fitting in center field — the Braves are known to convert players to more premium positions to try to force them in defensively — but many see him fitting in better as a right fielder with his plus arm strength. Benge, a left-handed hitter, produces loft with his swing and has been able to tap into his raw power already in college, with little concern that it won’t translate to the professional level.
We're running out of captions for home runs. Help us out.#GoPokes | @Carsonbenge3 pic.twitter.com/6YCdDvhdcH— OSU Cowboy Baseball (@OSUBaseball) April 26, 2024
His bat speed is his standout quality at the plate, and gets the barrel to the bat well throughout the zone. He hasn’t received knocks for pitch or zone recognition at this stage, though professional quality pitching is a test to any hitter, and the Braves may look to quiet some of the moving parts of his swing if they selected him. Benge also by all reports checks the box for makeup - a focus for Atlanta in recent drafts - as a player who brings high energy and effort in the clubhouse and on the field. If Benge fell to the Braves at 24 he would likely fit in as their top position player prospect immediately, featuring a combination of on-base and power potential that no other player outside of the much riskier rookie-level prospects have displayed yet.
Projections
To go with a general sense of how this draft could shape up, I don’t think Carson Benge will be there at 24. The bat speed and plate coverage combination will be enticing to a team at the top of the draft, and at least in my evaluation it’s hard to see why you would pass on Benge in comparison to college bats in the similar range. That said Benge fits in with a solid crop of college players, such as Ryan Waldschmidt, Walker Janek, Jurrangelo Cijntje, and Brody Brecht, who are all typically projected in this range. There is a likely chance that Atlanta will have the opportunity to select one, though if they don’t prefer the one that slides to them they could end up going with a different option. Still, it seems many of the teams immediately in front of Atlanta are favoring similar sorts of talent to these guys, and while we pretty much have no real feel for how the Braves are on guys should a team above Atlanta favor a Waldschmidt or a Cijntje to Benge it could open the door to him fitting in at 24.
Link to original article
