Benintendi Overcomes Speed Bump
BOSTON—For a moment, outfielder Andrew Benintendi stumbled on the fast track.
The Red Sox promoted the 2015 first-rounder to Double-A Portland in mid-May, just 88 games into his career. There, he encountered his first struggle of any meaningful duration. In his first 13 games with the Sea Dogs, he hit .196 with 11 strikeouts.
“When guys get promoted, they try to do a little too much,” Portland manager Carlos Febles said. “They try to prove to themselves and to other people that they belong here, and things sometimes get out of whack. That happened with him in the early going.”
It didn’t last. Over a 32-game stretch that started on June 2, Benintendi laid further credence to the view that he is one of the most advanced hitters in the minors, and arguably the most polished player to come out of the draft for the Red Sox since Dustin Pedroia.
The 22-year-old Arkansas product hit .322/.386/.610 with 20 extra-base hits, including six home runs, over the five-week stretch with Portland.
Despite his diminutive frame (he’s listed at 5-foot-10), Benintendi displayed the ability to create consistent hard contact and loft in a way that allows him to drive the ball to all fields, with multiple opposite-field homers along with a pulled shot to right that Febles estimated at 450 feet.
“I’m very, very, very surprised,” Febles said. “I never thought that a guy who’s 155 pounds would hit the ball that far and that hard.”
The consistency of Benintendi’s approach and results has already raised questions about how close he might be to his next move to either Triple-A or even the majors, with some evaluators feeling he’d be capable of the same type of leap that Michael Conforto and Kyle Schwarber made in 2015.
“I’ve heard that (it’s an unusually fast track)from people. I’m not going to think about it,” Benintendi said.
“I trust the people who make those decisions. I’m going to trust the process. However long it takes to get up there, that’s what it takes. I’m just going to try to play my hardest and play as well as I can.”
SOX YARNS
• Lefthander Brian Johnson, out since mid-May while being treated for anxiety, returned to game action on July 4 with three innings in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
• Outfielder Henry Ramos hit for the cycle on the July 4. The 24-year-old became the first player to hit for the cycle with Triple-A Pawtucket since 1999. He completed the feat with a bunt single in the ninth inning.
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