Who’s he and the place did he come from?
He’s Jake Bennett, the previous Oklahoma Sooner and 2022 second-round draft choose who the Purple Sox acquired for Luis Perales earlier within the offseason. That is curious as a result of Perales had simply returned from a 2024 UCL tear and nonetheless is simply 22 years outdated, however the 25 year-old Bennett had a fairly unbelievable 2025 season, albeit capping out at double-A; he even ended his marketing campaign after fall ball because the group’s quantity 10 prospect. Though he’s primarily been a starter in his profession, Bennett is on the 40-man roster and, amongst an absence of lefty reduction arms, positively stands to have a possibility at some Spring Coaching innings come March.
Too early to essentially inform, however he may very well be. If nothing else, Bennett’s archetype is unquestionably a favourite of Craig Breslow’s since his appointment as Chief Baseball Officer. He’s a towering lefty, sizing up at 6’6”, 234 kilos. Within the 2025 MLB draft, the Purple Sox used six of their first eight picks on SEC pitchers who’re a minimum of 6’2”. It helps that Bennett, who missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure (one other doable favourite trait of this entrance workplace…) is a lefty. Between Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Johan Oviedo, and an rising Brandon Clarke, Bennett joins a room stuffed with giants. And I don’t imply those in San Francisco!
To get extra into Bennett’s skillset, although, he definitely has some velocity throughout all 5 of his pitches (he goes to a few extra usually, although). His fastball is creeping again up in direction of he 97 mile per hour peak it reached earlier than his elbow damage. His cleanest pitch, a mid-80’s changeup with 7.1 ft of extension (which, had he pitched within the Majors, would have positioned him within the high 10 percentile) is graded at a 60 on a 20-80 scale on Baseball America. His cutter is sort of a bit shorter, however tops out at 88. As an entire, although Bennett struggles with management, he will get a 47.3% groundball proportion, which is unquestionably a constructive sign up a man together with his velocity.
Too lengthy didn’t learn: large man throws arduous. And throwing arduous definitely comes with benefits, as he labored his method up the Nationals’ system after getting back from a 12 months’s absence, proving himself to be as much as the problem at every stage. He completed 2025 with a cumulative 2.27 ERA and 1.08 WHIP and allowed simply three house runs in 75 innings.
Tl;dr, simply present me his 2025 stats.
Man, can’t you learn one line up? No, properly, okay.
75 IP (19 G), 2.27 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2.96 FIP, 64 Okay, 19 BB
Present me a cool spotlight.
His extension is on show right here, alongside together with his velocity, as he punches 4 consecutive batters, going 4 innings in reduction whereas permitting a run, incomes him the maintain on this specific contest in entrance of an attendance of 488 that, at first look, appears a bit embellished, but it surely’s tremendous.
What’s he doing in his image up there?
I’d wish to take the chance to say that, together with his shoulder size hair and massive body, Bennett positively seems to be like a man in a mid-2000’s coming-of-age movie named “Jake.” His facial features up there provides to that.
For yet one more enjoyable reality: he went to highschool AND school with Nats hurler (and 2020 1st spherical choose) Cade Cavalli. Bennett was truly the primary one drafted late within the 2019 MLB draft, however went to Oklahoma as an alternative. Right here’s the rapport between the 2 of them and Jake Irvin.
Jake Irvin, Cade Cavalli & Jake Bennett have a ton in widespread – all of them pitch, all of them went to Oklahoma, all of them acquired drafted by the Nats, they usually all needed to come again from Tommy John.
I sat down with them in spring to debate the bond they share & how they lean on one another. https://t.co/rWUdD9kKcL
— Dan Kolko (@DanKolko_) April 7, 2024
What’s his function on the 2026 Purple Sox?
There are just a few methods this will go provided that the Purple Sox nonetheless have about 100 lefty reduction appearances to fill between the absences of Justin Wilson and Brennan Bernardino (notice that the previous, at 38 years outdated, has not opted to retire but amidst rumors of him doing so however is a free agent presently.) It’s doable that Bennett nonetheless lacks the stamina or the management to present the rotation 5 sturdy innings, particularly at a Main League stage, and particularly coming off of a prolonged damage.
Fortunately, he gained’t have to fret concerning the strain of performing the rotation, given the massive bodied southpaws forward of him within the depth chart, just like the aforementioned Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, and clearly the staples of the rotation like Crochet and a newly acquired Ranger Suarez. However, it stands to query whether or not, ought to Bennett actually impress, he may very well be this 12 months’s model of a Zack Kelly or Darwinzon Hernandez, who fights his method into the bullpen, wins over some goodwill and, even higher, unlocks some potential in a pitching workers that holds pitchers like Bennett so dearly. Right here’s hoping that Bennett has extra endurance than both of these. He definitely has the mechanics to.
