Will Banfield

William Frank Banfield

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 215 lb.
• High School Brookwood High School (Snellville)
• Debut August 23, 2025

• Born November 18, 1999 in Lawrenceville, GA USA

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Biographical Information

Catcher Will Banfield made his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds only one day after fellow Lawrenceville, GA native Bubba Chandler. They were respectively the fourth and fifth players from the town to make it to the Show.

He was drafted out of high school by the Miami Marlins in the 2nd round of the 2018 amateur draft after playing for the USA junior national team (he had gone 3-for-11 with a two walks, a homer, three runs and three RBI when they won the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup; he backed up Anthony Seigler at catcher). He gave up a commitment to attend Vanderbilt University in order to sign with Miami, but his path to the majors was not smooth. In his first full professional season in 2019, he hit just .199 in 101 games for the Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League, then had to sit out the 2020 season while the minor leagues were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. His season was not a total loss, however, because as a top prospect in the organization, he was added to the Marlins' 60-player pool and spent the summer at their alternate training site. However, he had another rough season with the bat in 2021, ending up at .180 in 67 games for the Beloit Snappers, with a slugging percentage of just .308.

Will did a but better in his second stint with Beloit in 2022, improving to .204 in 71 games and received a late-year promotion to the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos where his bat finally clicked, with a line of .267/.302/.405 in 31 games. In 2023, he spent a full season at Pensacola and continued to do well, with a slash line of .258/.302/.472 in 115 games. He was named an organizational All-Star after the season. In 2024, he moved up to the AAA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, where he fell back to .247 with a .379 slugging percentage in 93 games. The major league Marlins were not particularly strong in the catching department, but did not give him a look, which may have helped motivate him to look for another team when he became a free agent after the season. He signed with the Reds in November.

Banfield started the 2025 season back in AAA with the Louisville Bats, but did not hit much, falling to .202 in 73 games, with a slugging percentage of .304. However, he was called up to Cincinnati on August 20th to serve as a back-up to Jose Trevino and finally got into a game on August 23rd, playing the final two innings of a 12-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on defense; he did not come to bat before the game ended.

Related Sites

• Will Banfield on mlb.com