Red Sox bring up Andrew Benintendi

The Red Sox have seen enough of Andrew Benintendi at Portland and have promoted him to Boston to play left field.

The Red Sox didn’t trade Andrew Benintendi so they did the next best thing for their number two ranked prospect – they promoted him to Boston and bypassed the normal progression to Pawtucket in the International League.

The 22-year-old left-hand hitting Benintendi slashed .295/.357/.515 at Portland with eight home runs and 44 RBI in 63 games with the Sea Dogs. Benintendi hit .341 at Salem before his transfer to Portland for a combined two league .312 average.

The publicity for Benintendi has been intriguing as a cottage industry has risen that puts forward the necessity of vaulting him from Portland to Boston with no intermediary sojourn at Pawtucket as media pundits and RSN clamor for Benintendi to make the future now and it has.

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All one needs to do is look at the scouting reports – especially in Baseball America – to get a healthy jolt of optimism over the potential of Benintendi. Couple that with the fact that Benintendi was much in demand in trade scenarios and it is somewhat of a given that his destination would be left field in Boston – a position he had apprenticing at in the minors – but this soon is somewhat of a surprise.

Bringing up the latest and greatest can be strictly a rush job – like a Vegas marriage after a weekend of debauchery, and could be a life of regret and self-doubt, questioning and internal wars within the organization if the move fails.

Caution is often the operative word used when advancement of a prospect is considered especially the giant step forward within the system and the ultimate is that fateful call to start investigating housing options in Boston. For many players, the advancement within the ranks is rather routine, especially among the most prestigious of draft signings, but a two-step jump displays some high level organizational confidence.

In fact, there is an extensive collection of players that simply forgo the bus tour of various secondary cities that make up the minors and went directly to the majors. Bob Feller, Frankie Frisch, George Sisler and Al Kaline all went to the Hall of Fame. Of course, David Clyde and a slew of others did not. Risk versus reward.

The evaluation process is not completed by a circus troupe, but by astute professionals with deep baseball roots in determining just how a player will perform at the next level. There are certain intangibles involved and that can seriously impact how a player adjusts and if they are so overwhelmed they forever fold into a fetal position when sequestered in a major league dugout.

Benintendi has proven himself at every level and nothing is more evident that his promotion to Boston since prior to that Benintendi was misplaced – a Faberge Egg is a yard sale – since at Lowell, Greenville, Salem and Portland he was simply toying with pitchers, but now a larger leap into a larger pool with some more advanced pitching sharks.

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The picture at Portland shows a significant adjustment for Benintendi. In May,  Benintendi hit .213 with no power and the summation was – to some – another product who has reached a baseball glass ceiling except from mid-June on Benintendi has made the adjustment and continued to impress and the reward is obvious with his recent promotion.

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.

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Examining Benintendi’s past this was not a baseball rube with a skill set that needed extensive revision, but a player who performed at the highest collegiate level with a cupboard loaded with objects that attest to his skill including the prestigious National Player of the Year.

The entry into the lineup certainly cements the outfield of the future as the outfield of the present.

Sources: Baseball-Reference/Baseball America