It's (well past) time for the Reds to make this painfully obvious roster move

The Cincinnati Reds cannot continue to keep Will Benson on the active roster. Benson made his requests known this spring — he wanted to gets reps versus both right and left-handed pitching in an effort to become an everyday major league player. Right now, Benson shouldn't even be allowed to be a platoon outfielder.

Benson is mired an awful stretch (0-for-21) that is eerily reminisce to his start with the Reds in 2023. That 1-for-21 showing saw the Reds send Benson down to Triple-A Louisville for a tuneup, and it would seem as though he's long overdue for another trip to the Derby City.

Benson is hitting a meager .194/.288/.384 this season with a 39.2% strikeout rate. Only Joey Gallo of the Washington Nationals has a worse strikeout rate this season. Benson joins Gallo and Nolan Gorman of the St. Louis Cardinals as some of the worst in baseball. Benson's whiff rate is also among the worst in the league as well.

The Reds need to option Will Benson back to Triple-A

It's time for the Reds to option Benson back to the minor leagues. While there's not a lot of good options down on the farm, Benson isn't giving the Reds any choice in the matter. Players like Peyton Burdick is a less than ideal option. Blake Dunn would've been an option as well, but exited Saturday's game after being struck in the head by a pitch and is now on the seven-day IL in the minor leagues.

Jacob Hurtubise is another player on the Reds' 40-man roster, but after being optioned late last week in order to select the contract of Austin Wynns, the outfielder cannot return until after he's been down at Louisville for 10 days unless there's an injury — which may be in play after Benson exited Sunday's game after being struck on the left arm by a pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.

If the Reds want to delay the decision, Cincinnati could wait until Thursday when Noelvi Marte is eligible to return from his 80-game PED suspension. Regardless of how the roster move is executed, Benson's time in the big leagues (for the time being) has expired.

The Reds, despite a sub-.500 record, are still in the thick of the NL Wild Card race. Allowing a player like Benson, who's clearly lost a that the plate, to maintain a regular spot in the lineup is baseball malpractice.

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