Kornacki: Benedetti Finds Pro Mentorship with Wolverine Connection
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 19, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Carmen Benedetti discovered an instructor in the Houston Astros organization whom he had plenty in common with. It was Leon Roberts, a 10-year major league veteran who also is the answer to trivia questions involving Al Kaline and Cecil Fielder.
Roberts led the University of Michigan with a .367 batting average in 1972, the same year the Detroit Tigers selected him in the 10th round of the amateur draft.
Benedetti led the Wolverines by batting .352 in 2015, and in June was a 12th-round pick by the Houston Astros.
The two smooth-swinging hitters connected this summer in the New York-Penn League, where Benedetti made his professional debut as a right fielder for the Tri-City ValleyCats and batted .309.
"Leon Roberts told me he played for Moby Benedict," said Benedetti, "and he also played football at Michigan. He was the Astros' (roving outfield instructor) and so I got to pick his brain and talk a whole lot.
"Talk about a guy who is old school, which I like, and he simplifies everything for you. It was awesome. He's been a hitting coach and instructor through baseball for many years, and, really, forever."
Roberts -- who replaced Hall of Famer Kaline in right field for the 1975 Tigers and was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Kansas City Royals for Fielder in 1983 -- is 65 and has been a baseball lifer. He batted .301 (sixth in the American League) with 22 homers and 92 RBI in 1978 for the Seattle Mariners in his top season.
Benedetti said he'd struggled for two games, but Roberts spotted something delaying his swing and suggested an adjustment.
Leon Roberts
"It was something with my hand positioning," said Benedetti. "I was bringing my hands too far up, and wasn't able to get to certain balls. He said, 'You don't have to be as exaggerated. Just hold your hands back a little bit.'
"And it was, 'Boom.' Every ball I hit was square. I got slow to the ball, calm to the ball. In the next two games, I had five hits. The guy knows his stuff and it was really cool getting to know him, especially him being a Wolverine, and having that connection."
Benedetti also played in the same game as Michigan teammate Evan Hill, a left-hander for the Connecticut Tigers, and against his Grosse Pointe South (Michigan) High teammate Cam Gibson, the former Michigan State outfielder and son of major league star Kirk Gibson.
"I got to talk hitting again with Cam and he's very smart on that topic," said Benedetti. "We played in an Instructional League game and we get along great."
Cam is in the Tigers' farm system, and Detroit general manager Al Avila, manager Brad Ausmus and former manager Jim Leyland, now a special assistant to Avila, were present at the game. Benedetti has always been a huge Tigers fan.
"I wanted to get a hit in front of those guys," said Benedetti, "and I got a base hit up the middle. So, I thought that was nice, whether they noticed it or not. It was really cool."
Benedetti conversed with Hill, whom the Tigers took in the 24th round in June, through an outfield fence while warming up between innings.
"Hilly pitched the last inning in our game," said Benedetti. "But I made the last out in the prior inning, and we didn't face one another. During the game, he was in the bullpen and I was in right field. He would say, 'Nice play there' or talk about something.
"I found out he was doing his master's program, really getting into his studies and he's going to be a successful guy. He's an energy ball. He's a great teammate and a brother of mine. It was nice to see him."
Wolverine left-handed pitcher Brett Adcock, a fourth-round pick by the Astros, was briefly his teammate on the ValleyCats before an injury ended his season after throwing 4 1/3 innings.
Benedetti, a first-team All-American selection on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association team and first-team All-Big Ten pick in 2015 as a designated hitter, also played outfield, first base and pitched at Michigan. He worked some at first base for the Houston farm club in Troy, New York, but focused on right field, where his strong arm is an asset.
The Astros have become one of the best organizations in terms of drafting and developing top talent.
"I think it's awesome," said Benedetti. "The amount of technology used to help us with our swing mechanics, swing path and our pitch recognition, working with the hitting coordinator, Jeff Albert. He's been a tremendous help to me along with the outfield coach, (Josh) Bonifay."
Benedetti said Bonifay's "hard-nosed approach" reminds him of Michigan coach Erik Bakich.
"You can take all the baseball work and video work Coach Bakich and all our coaches did for me and put that aside," said Benedetti. "The guy made me a better person. I'm more mature and know how to carry myself on and off the field. I felt ready to move on to a professional career because of him, and he helped me tremendously."
Benedetti had one homer, six doubles and 19 RBI in 165 at-bats for the Class A ValleyCats, but his most impressive statistic as a left-handed hitter was batting .304 against lefty pitchers and .311 against righties.
"That goes into coming back here and talking to Coach Bakich about it," said Benedetti. "It's about not thinking too much and not being intimidated by anybody when you are in that box. Be ready to hit and take the pitcher down, whether he throws 100 (mph) or 80. I took that with me to Tri-Cities, and I think that's what helped me balance out between righties and lefties."
His team averaged 4,281 fans per game for second in the league, and Benedetti enjoyed that support.
"Signing autographs for little kids and taking pictures with them, and them being your biggest fans, was so cool," said Benedetti. "The team is very popular and the games are the place to go in Troy."
He lived in an apartment complex with many of his teammates in the vibrant town located on the Hudson River.
Benedetti plans to work out in his hometown of Grosse Pointe and at Fisher Stadium until leaving for spring training.
He said: "It's about what we always said here at Michigan, the two words: 'Getting better.' And continuing to pick the brains of coaches here is something I definitely want to do. This is my second home, and where I want to be. I want to get stronger, faster, healthier, more explosive, and more mobile -- something I lacked was mobility."
We spoke in the Fisher Stadium lobby, where a life-size photo of the Wolverines' dog pile after winning the 2015 Big Ten Tournament at Target Field in Minneapolis now covers one wall.
"That photo up there is one of the best feelings I've had in my entire life," said Benedetti. "I'm in the bottom right of it over there. We were big underdogs and beat all those teams like Illinois and Maryland. Our team came together. We were one, and let it hang. We gave it our all.
"Then, to have the team recognized for that at the Big House (at a football game) was special. But it was all the times that I had here, all that I learned here, that I remember most. It's all cemented into one big, great moment for me. I work hard, and I believe I can be a great, talented ballplayer. But I don't even know if I'd be at this point without the coaching staff here. I can't thank them enough."
