March 25, 2023

By Lisa Amaral

Centennial Sports Journalism

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Cooper Benson put in a great half season last year with the Dunedin Blue Jays after recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Benson, a California native, finished his Low-A season with a 2-2 record over seven games, posting an ERA of 2.45, and an impressive 1.09 WHIP.

His most memorable game came in a game against the Tampa Tarpons, where the left-hander pitched four innings in a combined no-hitter with three other Blue Jay pitchers

“Combined no-hitter is pretty cool. It was me, Sam Ryan, Kendry Rojas, and Ian Churchill,” said Benson, reflecting on the memory. “No one really knew what was going on, we saw the no hits at the end.”

The 22-year-old hadn’t been playing baseball as often prior to the big game due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was recovering from the elbow surgery. The former Arizona State Spartan now looks forward to what’s ahead with Dunedin.

“This will be my first full season playing. Just making sure my arm recovers between outings and just doing all the right stuff,” said Benson. “I just want to be healthy and it’ll be really fun to get a full season under my belt.”

Preparing for his first chance to fully showcase his skills, Benson looked forward to the future and the goals he has set in mind.

“I hope I make it to the Show. I just got to keep working,” said Benson outside of practice. “I think it’s going to happen, I just got to stay on the path and do what I do. The rest will take care.”

Being from California, Benson has been fortunate to live in a warm climate for most of his life. Going to high school in Arizona and playing baseball out west, he never thought he'd be drafted to the only Canadian team in the MLB.

“It’s kind of crazy, I would never have thought. I’d never been out here before to any of the complexes,” said Benson on being drafted by the Jays. “It’s really cool, I like Florida spring training a lot, the weather’s been beautiful down here.”