What years did Kris Benson play?

Kris Benson played in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2010.

Was Kris Benson a pitcher?

Yes. Kris Benson pitched in the major leagues, recording 70 wins and 806 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Kris Benson hit?

Kris Benson hit 1 career home runs with 42 hits.

What was Kris Benson's career batting average?

Kris Benson batted .131 over his career, with 42 hits in 321 at bats.

How many RBI did Kris Benson have?

Kris Benson drove in 22 runs in his career.

What was Kris Benson's career ERA?

Kris Benson finished with a 4.42 career ERA, going 70-75 with 806 strikeouts.

Kris Benson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1999-2010)

Kris Benson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2010 for 5 teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 12 seasons. Across 206 career appearances, he went 70-75 with a 4.42 ERA and 806 strikeouts. He also batted .131 with 1 home runs.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated September 8, 2026

W–L 70–75

ERA 4.42

WHIP 1.39

SO 806

Pitcher PIV -714.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 190 lb
Born: 11/7/1974 in Kennesaw, GA, USA
MLB Debut: 1999-04-09
Last Game: 2010-04-28

Full name: Kristen James Benson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Kris Benson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
70	75	206	200	8	2	0	1243.7	1,292	611	152	441	806	4.42	-714.0

Career ERA 4.42 vs. league average 4.43 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Kris Benson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1999	PIT	NL	11	14	31	31	2	0	196.7	184	89	83	139	4.07	4.71 (+14%)	2930.2
2000	PIT	NL	10	12	32	32	2	1	217.7	206	93	86	184	3.85	4.77 (+19%)	3238.0
2002	PIT	NL	9	6	25	25	0	0	130.3	152	68	50	79	4.70	4.28 (-10%)	-1587.0
2003	PIT	NL	5	9	18	18	0	0	105.0	127	58	36	68	4.97	4.40 (-13%)	-333.5
2004	PIT	NL	8	8	20	20	0	0	132.3	137	62	44	83	4.22	4.46 (+6%)	2884.1
2004	NYN	NL	4	4	11	11	1	1	68.0	65	34	17	51	4.50	4.46 (-1%)	792.1
2005	NYN	NL	10	8	28	28	0	0	174.3	171	80	49	95	4.13	4.29 (+4%)	-1485.9
2006	BAL	AL	11	12	30	30	3	0	183.0	199	98	58	88	4.82	4.53 (-6%)	-4886.1
2009	TEX	AL	1	1	8	2	0	0	22.3	33	21	12	11	8.46	4.32 (-96%)	-1841.2
2010	ARI	NL	1	1	3	3	0	0	14.0	18	8	6	8	5.14	4.08 (-26%)	-424.7
Career · 10 seasons			70	75	206	200	8	2	1,243.2	1,292	611	441	806	4.42	—	-714

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Kris Benson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
208	321	23	42	7	0	1	22	0	15	127	.131	.175	.162	.337	-1,549

Career AVG .131 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 50.7% below league average.

Career OBP .175 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — 47.9% below league average.

Career SLG .162 vs. league average .423 across their career seasons — 61.7% below league average.

Career OPS .337 vs. league average .758 across their career seasons — 55.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Kris Benson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1999	PIT	NL	31	65	7	10	3	0	7	3	24	.154	.271 (-43%)	.344 (-45%)	.433 (-54%)	.778 (-50%)	-555.6
2000	PIT	NL	32	65	3	6	2	0	1	4	29	.092	.270 (-66%)	.344 (-54%)	.437 (-72%)	.782 (-64%)	-717.6
2002	PIT	NL	27	40	3	7	1	0	1	0	11	.175	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	PIT	NL	18	30	2	0	0	0	0	1	11	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	PIT	NL	20	39	2	7	0	0	3	1	17	.179	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	NYN	NL	11	19	1	1	0	0	2	1	9	.053	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	NYN	NL	28	49	4	9	1	0	6	5	22	.184	—	—	—	—	-275.7
2006	BAL	AL	30	9	1	1	0	1	2	0	3	.111	—	—	—	—	0.0
2009	TEX	AL	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2010	ARI	NL	3	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 10 seasons			208	321	23	42	7	1	22	15	127	.131	—	—	—	—	-1,549

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (414 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Kris Benson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	105	154	12	21	0	14	.136
Away	103	167	11	21	1	8	.126

Pitching — Home / Away

Kris Benson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	104	647.0	654	299	214	430	4.16
Away	102	596.2	638	312	227	376	4.71

Last 10 Games — Batting

Kris Benson — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	H	SO
2010-04-28	AZ	COL	W	0	0	0
2010-04-23	AZ	PHI	W	3	0	1
2010-04-17	AZ	SDP	L	2	1	0
2009-06-06	TEX	BOS	L	0	0	0
2009-06-02	TEX	NYY	L	0	0	0
2009-05-27	TEX	NYY	L	0	0	0
2009-05-25	TEX	NYY	L	0	0	0
2009-05-19	TEX	DET	L	0	0	0
2009-05-07	TEX	OAK	L	0	0	0
2009-04-15	TEX	BAL	W	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Kris Benson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2010-04-28	AZ	COL	—	2.0	4	4	4	2	2	1
2010-04-23	AZ	PHI	W	6.0	8	3	2	0	5	0
2010-04-17	AZ	SDP	L	6.0	6	2	2	4	1	1
2009-06-06	TEX	BOS	—	2.1	3	4	3	3	1	1
2009-06-02	TEX	NYY	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009-05-27	TEX	NYY	—	1.0	2	1	1	1	1	1
2009-05-25	TEX	NYY	—	3.0	6	4	4	2	1	0
2009-05-19	TEX	DET	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2009-05-07	TEX	OAK	—	3.0	5	2	2	1	3	1
2009-04-15	TEX	BAL	W	6.0	6	4	4	3	2	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Kris Benson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	206	200	83	157	10	16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Kris Benson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1999	PIT	P	31	31	15	27	2	6
2000	PIT	P	32	32	8	28	2	0
2002	PIT	P	25	25	12	11	2	2
2003	PIT	P	18	18	6	10	1	2
2004	PIT	P	20	20	12	19	0	2
2004	NYN	P	11	11	5	6	1	0
2005	NYN	P	28	28	7	29	0	2
2006	BAL	P	30	30	15	25	2	2
2009	TEX	P	8	2	2	1	0	0
2010	ARI	P	3	3	1	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Kris Benson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	206

Salary History

Kris Benson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2009	TEX	AL	$750,000
2007	BAL	AL	$7,144,556
2006	BAL	AL	$8,333,333
2005	NYN	NL	$5,333,333
2004	PIT	NL	$6,150,000
2003	PIT	NL	$4,300,000
2002	PIT	NL	$2,700,000
2001	PIT	NL	$3,450,000
2000	PIT	NL	$300,000
1999	PIT	NL	$200,000
Total Career Earnings			$38,661,222

College History

Kris Benson — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Clemson University	Clemson	SC	1994, 1995, 1996

Award Voting History

Kris Benson — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1999	Rookie of the Year	NL	4th	5.0	160	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Kris Benson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Kris Benson

What years did Kris Benson play?: Kris Benson played in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2010.
Was Kris Benson a pitcher?: Yes. Kris Benson pitched in the major leagues, recording 70 wins and 806 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Kris Benson hit?: Kris Benson hit 1 career home runs with 42 hits.
What was Kris Benson's career batting average?: Kris Benson batted .131 over his career, with 42 hits in 321 at bats.
How many RBI did Kris Benson have?: Kris Benson drove in 22 runs in his career.
What was Kris Benson's career ERA?: Kris Benson finished with a 4.42 career ERA, going 70-75 with 806 strikeouts.