Xian Benavidez came to Canada four years ago from the Philippines. He hardly spoke English and didn’t know how to play baseball.
He turned to YouTube to learn the sport he now excels at.
“He learned the game of baseball off, watching YouTube videos and then came to the diamond and put what he had learned on YouTube videos to work,” shared Bevan Mathieson, head coach of the U11 Stratford Nationals. “I’ve heard from countless coaches in our league this year that he is the best player by far.”
Fast forward to today, where the outfielder and pitcher recently struck out his 100 batter on the season, in just 43 innings. Benavidez is a humble young man who kept it simple when asked how the moment felt.
“It felt amazing,” he said.
Like any good pitcher, Benavidez said he gets help from his defence.
“The defence makes me proud,” he said. “It feels good.
Mathieson says there are games where the defence might be a little bored as it’s so hard to get a hit off Xian.
“Opponents are only batting .202 against him, and he’s only walked 12 batters, all year,” Mathieson said. “He’s struck out 100 people on the season, which is incredible in a game that monitors pitch count so heavily; kids can only throw 75 pitches in a game, and Xian’s managed 10 plus strike outs and three different outings this year. His earned run average (ERA) is 2.20, and he’s the guy we can depend on in all the big games.”
Benavidez has a really good fastball, but it’s his off-speed stuff that really impresses his coach.
“To tell you the truth is, his curveball moves like a major leaguer’s,” Mathieson said. “I think if I stood in the box, I may have trouble hitting it sometimes, and I played some pretty high-level baseball myself.”
Besides being dominant on the bump, he is also scary at the dish.
“He put, I want to say, a 320 foot home run out of a park this year,” Mathieson said. “He’s got five home runs, to go along with his four triples, and 41 runs batted in (RBI) on the year. He’s not just a force on the mound but at the plate. Not too many times want to pitch to him.”
For Benavidez, he’s enjoying playing baseball with his teammates, and his favourite players happen to be from Canada’s own Toronto Blue Jays.
“I like Daulton Varsho and Dylan Cease,” he said.
The future looks bright for Benavidez, and Mathieson says he is always willing to put in the time and work.
“He is always willing to put extra work in to get himself better. He was able to play for the U13 team this year as a call-up and fit right in, and he’s played with our U12 team,” Mathieson said.
“I can honestly say I’ve gotten probably five or six phone calls from high performance coaches looking for his information, hoping to move him onto the next level.”
