While the players take a week off during the All-Star break, we here at Razzball don’t get a break, so welcome back to another Up-and-Coming Dynasty Player entry.
This week I’m highlighting the left pitcher Jake Bennett. Bennett had a very productive rookie season with the Boston Red Sox and was a bright spot in the Boston rotation. He doesn’t drive anyone crazy with his fastball, but he gets hitters out, and that’s the name of the game when it comes to pitching.
Let’s take a look at Bennett, an up-and-coming player of the dynasty.
Mathematics
| A YEAR | LEVEL | GS | WL | IP | The ERA | WHIP | H/9 | BB/9 | K/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-22 | The NCAA | 39-35 | 17-7 | 184.1 | 4.30 | 1.183 | 8.8 | 1.9 | 10.4 |
| 2023 | A|A+ | 15-15 | 1-6 | 63.0 | 3.14 | 1.206 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 10.4 |
| 2025 | A|A+|AA | 19-18 | 2-5 | 75.1 | 2.27 | 1.075 | 7.4 | 2.3 | 7.6 |
| 2026 | AAA | 9-9 | 3-2 | 39.1 | 1.60 | 1.017 | 7.1 | 2.1 | 9.4 |
| 2026 | Red Sox | 8-8 | 4-3 | 47.2 | 2.64 | 0.944 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 6.6 |
Jake Bennett was drafted twice by the Washington Nationals, first out of high school in the 39th round of the 2019 draft and again in the second round of the 2022 draft. A native of Bixby, Oklahoma, Bennett did not sign with the Nationals after graduating high school and instead chose to attend the University of Oklahoma. Bennett had his best season as a junior as he went 10-4 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.094 WHIP while striking out 10.2 batters per nine innings and walking only 1.7 per nine innings.
In the postseason, he won four of his five starts to help the Sooners reach the College World Series. After the draft, he signed with the Nationals, but didn’t start until 2023 and had a solid season before suffering an elbow injury in August and Tommy John surgery in September, forcing him to miss the 2024 campaign. Returning to the mound in 2025, Bennett pitched at three different levels before being traded to the Red Sox this past season.
Bennett began the 2026 season in Triple-A before being sent back to the majors after nine starts.
Tools
- Four Seam Fastball: 34% | 93.0 mph
Bennett’s fastball is an average pitch in terms of velocity, as the average MLB fastball by lefties is 93.5 mph while Bennett throws his four-seamer at 93.0 mph. Throwing it 38% of the time against righties and 20% against lefties, this pitch has been very effective for him. Constantly throwing the pitch up in the zone, he gets good run on the pitch as he has 3.9 inches of tail over righties, but he’s not afraid to attack righties inside with the pitch, as seen here. The result is a .231 batting average against a measly .385 SLG.
Thrown 50% of the time against left-handed hitters, this pitch pairs well with Bennett’s four-seamer as he throws it down the field with good movement. Compared to other left-handed pitchers, the sinker has 1.5 inches more tail and 2.8 inches more drop. Opposing hitters have a .264 batting average against the sinker with a .358 SLG thanks to an average EV of 83.6 mph.
This is a pitch that Jake Bennett has used to great effect against hitters. His Statcast numbers paint him as an average pitch as he has a tail of 1.8 inches and a 0.7 inch drop compared to the rest. But he has great pitch command that he uses to attack hitters in the zone. The result is a pitcher with a .140 batting average and .140 SLG with a 32.3% Whiff%. Hitters have an average EV of only 80.2 mph against the pitch.
- Channel: 5% | 79.5 mph / Curve: 5% | 79.2 mph / Cutter: 3% | 85.4 mph
Bennett throws three more pitches on a sweep, curve, and cutter. Combined, hitters don’t fare well in these areas either, with a .238 batting average and SLG. The sweeper has good movement as he produces 6.9% more downs while clocking in at an average speed of 79.5 mph. He then combines his curve to attack hitters at or below the strike zone and throws a cutter over and over again as a change of pace.
Results
Jake Bennett does a great job of cornering. So far this season, he has thrown 43.4% of his pitches in the end zone compared to a league average of 39%. In fact, because of the movement he got on his pitches, he threw 53.3% of his pitches out of the zone. The league average is 51.1%. The results of his pitch movement and command have produced a low 51.4% ground ball rate, while hitters have only 7% of the barrels, which is the league average.
Bennett is a pitcher who does a great job of mixing up and finding his pitches to keep hitters off balance. You can see the results of his approach in the chart above. That’s a lot of nice, red bars. The only area where he is below, or way below league average, is his fastball velocity, Whiff% and K% percentage.
The lack of strikeouts is not fair compared to Bennett in leagues that use strikeout totals or K/9 ratio. But he has an excellent K/BB ratio of 4.38, and the lack of strikeouts may be puzzling right now. In college, he had a 10.4 K/9 rate, and that rate was 9.0 in the minors. With the Red Sox, the strikeout rate has been a mixed bag. In his two May starts, he averaged 3.5 K/9. It then jumped to 8.3 in June four starts but is currently at 6.1 this month.
If high strikeout totals or K/9 ratios are your thing, Bennett is not your pitcher. But if having a low WHIP and ERA are two stats you like, Bennett is your man, because ultimately, I want pitchers who get hitters out and don’t kill my ERA and WHIP.
And in a game where starters struggle to reach six or more innings of work per outing, Bennett is showing the ability to use that approach. In his last four games, Bennett has thrown 6.0, 6.1, 7.2, and 7.0 innings. In those starts, he is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA (and a 2.77 FIP for those interested in that stat) and a 0.70 WHIP and 7.3 K/9 average.
Adding Jake Bennett to your roster is becoming more and more difficult as he gets added to fantasy programs more and more. Currently, he is ranked in 53% of the Yahoo league. But players in ESPN’s leagues are slow to jump on the bandwagon, as they are ranked in only 37% of the league.
Thank you!
Thanks for reading, and come back next week.
