If this were a year ago, with the Red Sox plunging toward another last-place finish with nothing to play for, recalling Benintendi, frequently mentioned in the Chris Sale trade rumors which were never a reality over the past week, would make ideal sense.
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Although Benintendi has been a center fielder throughout his professional career, he’s likely to move to left field in the majors.
At Arkansas, Benintendi won the Dick Howser Trophy as the top Division I baseball player in the country and the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur baseball player while helping the Razorbacks to the College World Series in 2015.
Benintendi will be the 10th former Arkansas player to make an Major League Baseball roster this season. While he will certainly have to make adjustments against big league pitching, he’s one of the most polished hitters in the minors and there’s no reason why his success shouldn’t carry over to the majors. Can Rick Porcello continue pitching as all of Boston expected him to past year? After an intentional walk to Robinson Cano who, at that point, had two of the Mariners’ four hits, Nelson Cruz struck out. After being named the Golden Spikes victor as the best player in college baseball at the University of Arkansas, he made a giant splash his first year as a professional, hitting.313 with a.972 OPS and 11 homers with 10 stolen bases in 54 games between Lowell and Greenville.
Benintendi combines all the attributes one expects in a project five tool player – speed, defense, and excellent hitting ability and his going away present was a two home run, four hit and five RBI performance for Portland.
So what does this mean for Benintendi now that he’s with the Red Sox?
“It really came down to we looked at some possible alternatives to help us in left field”, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said “NESN Sports Today” after Monday night’s game.
The left-handed hitter will become the first player since at least 2009 (when the Salem affiliate started) to appear in the big leagues after starting the season with High-A Salem. He will still get caught out in front of breaking balls at times, but for the most part he can handle spin, rarely strikes out, and has minimal swing-and-miss in his game. The Red Sox defeated the Mariners 2-1.
For better or worse, that’s the path that the Red Sox chose.
Betts led off the top of the ninth inning with a tie-breaking solo home run, Boston’s third ninth-inning homer in two games, before Kimbrel came on to earn his 18th save in his first game since July 6.
That’s a progression the Red Sox can only hope for with their new left fielder.
Lee then drove a double into the right-center gap just beyond the reach of center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.
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Here comes Andrew Benintendi. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have begun to prepare Moncada for an eventual position change by directing him to take grounders at third base, another potential position of need down the stretch. Particularly when they have an overpowering alternative in rookie right-hander Edwin Diaz.
