warm the bench

Idioms  

1. Also, ride the bench. Be a secondary or substitute participant; wait one's turn to participate. For example, I can't wait till the head of accounting retires; I've been warming the bench for years. This expression comes from such sports as baseball and football, and their standard practice of having substitute players sit on a bench in case they are needed in a game. [Slang; early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

That makes Sunday’s game more than a test of whether Stidham can go from warming the bench to leading a Super Bowl run against the team that dumped him.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Englishman started the season as number one after returning to City in the summer but has been warming the bench since the arrival of the towering Italian from Paris St-Germain.

From BBC

Grealish has scored just four Premier League goals in the last two seasons - including a solitary strike this term - and has become accustomed to warming the bench.

From BBC

He, like Owen, will be warming the bench at Madrid.

From BBC

When Roy Wood Jr. played sports in high school, he spent a lot of time warming the bench — an experience that primed him for a career in comedy.

From Los Angeles Times