Benjamin On Fire with Knights to Start the Season

Left-handed starting pitcher Wes Benjamin has had a hot start to the 2022 season for the Charlotte Knights, going 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA over four games in April.

This season is Benjamin’s first season in the White Sox organization, having played his previous seven professional seasons in the Texas Rangers organization. He made his major league debut on August 16, 2020, against the Colorado Rockies. Benjamin signed as a free agent with the White Sox this previous offseason.

His first season with the Knights has been very successful thus far. He leads the team in strikeouts with 29 and has the second-lowest ERA amongst starting pitchers on the roster with a 3.58 ERA. He has had the most starts with six, where he has thrown 27.2 innings with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.19.

Hot start

This year, Benjamin has given his early success to having reshaped his approach, moving from a more fastball dominant pitcher to mixing in more off-speed pitches to disrupt opposing hitters.

“I think in regards to my pitch selection, I used to be a very fastball, dominant pitcher. I’ve added a sinker with the help of our pitching coach here, Matt Zaleski, as well as worked on my slider a bit more in the offseason,” said Benjamin. He also added, “I think switching up the general approach of being a bit more off-speed dominant as opposed to fastball dominant has helped a ton in the long run so far.”

He may have changed his approach on the mound, but he still tries to keep things similar for himself when preparing for the game on start days. He controls what he can control when prepping for a gameday.

“I try to keep everything the same. You aren’t gonna always have everything available to you. Some days you will be a little more tired than others … that’s what's been helpful to me, just being able to roll with the punches, whatever they may be, and understand that it's the same game day in and day out,” said Benjamin.

Finding a home in Charlotte

Benjamin has played the last two seasons on and off with the Rangers in the newest Major League Baseball stadium in Globe Life Park, has found a home here in Charlotte, and has loved playing in Uptown at Truist Field.

“It’s amazing. We are definitely fortunate here. This doesn’t seem like a minor league ballpark; it seems like a major league atmosphere. It’s really fun to get to come home and play here a week after traveling around. Definitely a home away from home,” said Benjamin.

Benjamin not only seems to enjoy being in Charlotte and love the stadium, but he seems to have also found great success here at Truist Field. This year, he has pitched in two home games, going 1-0 while throwing 12 innings and not allowing any earned runs while striking out 15 and posting a WHIP of 0.58.

Chicago roots

Benjamin is a St. Charles, IL native, a suburb of Chicago, so he wouldn’t be too far from home if the White Sox gave him the call to come to play at Guaranteed Rate Field. Benjamin’s biggest worry might be spending his whole paycheck on tickets for his friends and family to see him play.

“If the time comes, I’m gonna have to spend a lot of on tickets for a lot of friends. Aside from that, it’s incredible to see a team you watched your whole life growing up, and to be a part of that organization is really special,” said Benjamin.

Journey to professional baseball

2014 coming off his junior season at Kansas, where he had pitched in seven games, going 4-0 before his season ended with Tommy John surgery. Benjamin didn’t have many expectations with the draft due to concerns over the rehab process of his injury.

But then, in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, the Texas Rangers came calling.

“I was hurt at the time. I had Tommy John surgery, and I was just out of a brace. I was probably just about to run maybe a couple of laps or something around my neighborhood to just stay in shape in the offseason over the summer. I wasn’t expecting anything of it, but sure enough, my phone started buzzing, and I got a call that the Texas Rangers were gonna end up drafting me. I had an incredible moment with my family. I was in my basement tucked away, listening to a computer screen say my name. It was all the hard work and everything you work towards, especially in college at that point, coming to fruition,” said Benjamin.

The next time he threw a pitch was on June 22, 2015, playing for the Arizona League Rangers. Benjamin took the mound, threw one inning, and proved that his injury wouldn’t be the end of the line. As much as the draft proved his hard work had paid off, the feelings after getting to throw a pitch again after an injury proved all of that and then some.

“Incredible; you have to mentally be all in if you want to come back from an injury. I definitely felt like I was. Being able to touch a mound again, being able to just throw a baseball again, something I wanted to potentially do with future children, was always hanging in the balance because you didn’t know each day, ‘Would I be ready?’ Being able to come back from that and to just know that all the hard work that you’d gone through and everything that you’d done up until that point has been worth it is incredible,” said Benjamin.

Check out Benjamin on the mound Friday night as the Charlotte Knights host the Indianapolis Indians at 7:04 p.m. at Truist Field in Uptown, Charlotte.