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Red Sox should welcome Benintendi in September

By Noah Small

Jun 13, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks outfielder Andrew Benintendi (16) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Virginia Cavaliers in the third inning in the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 13, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks outfielder Andrew Benintendi (16) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Virginia Cavaliers in the third inning in the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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With trouble in the outfield, the Boston Red Sox should look to red-hot prospect Andrew Benintendi to improve the team this season and beyond.

Red Sox top prospects Andrew Benintendi and Yoan Moncada have been on a tear all season, and their promotion to Double-A Portland hasn’t slowed them down a bit.

Benintendi is batting .282 with 6 home runs in 54 games with the Sea Dogs, while Moncada carries a cool .314 average and an incredible 7 homers in just 22 games.

It clearly doesn’t seem to have taken them too long to acclimate to the more advanced pitching in AA. But, does that mean they’re ready (especially Benintendi, who has already had nearly 200 ABs in AA) for a promotion, whether that be to AAA or straight up to the majors?

"“He’s played very well,” Dave Dombrowski said of Benintendi. “But I wouldn’t get into individual cases. I’ve never felt that Triple-A is really a necessity with good players. I’ve jumped many guys from Double-A in my career. Usually if you do well at Double-A against that type of competition and show that you can perform. There’s some benefits to going to Triple-A. I don’t mean to downplay it. But I’ve had a lot of success throughout my career with guys going from Double-A to the big leagues.”"

Those remarks by the GM should carry even more weight given the fact that roughly two weeks before Dombrowski seemed to feel Benintendi wasn’t ready, and even plainly stated, “We don’t think he’s ready at this point.”

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So what’s changed? Well, Benintendi now looks more than capable of handling whatever is thrown at him, after having an ever so brief adjusting period in his first games at the AA level.

And that’s not to mention Moncada, who looks like a 21-year-old senior playing on the high school baseball team. He’s been a man among boys and taken the league by storm, but is there a reason or place for him to get called up?

As was mentioned in a recent article by Sean Penney, the Red Sox aren’t switching Moncada’s natural position of 2nd base any time soon. And as long as Pedroia is healthy, there will be no need for the Cuban at Fenway.

That leaves Benintendi, the natural outfielder, as both the better and more likely solution to make his Major League debut in the final stretch of this season.

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The Red Sox have struggled to field a healthy outfield in 2016, as Brock Holt, Blake Swihart, and Chris Young have all endured injury at some point. Not to mention none of them can be expected to produce in the way Benintendi could, with the possible exception of Swihart, if he was to start living up to his potential. That factor adds further intrigue to Boston’s ultimate decision, as the addition of the former Arkansas Razorback could improve the team in a similar way other top prospects have in recent years.

Furthermore, the Red Sox haven’t been overly shy about moving players up to the Big Leagues late in the season, or putting their top prospects in high pressure situations, even in the playoffs.

In 2007, Jacoby Ellsbury was a September call-up after only playing a handful of games that season. And, paired with a young Dustin Pedroia, helped Boston win the World Series. In 2013, Xander Bogaerts made his Red Sox debut on Aug. 29, and in a similar fashion aided the team to a World Series ring in his first few games. In 2014, Mookie Betts was tossed around in the minors before being called up for a couple of short stints in the majors, until finally receiving the promotion on Aug. 18 to play out the rest of the season for Sox.

And, in 2016, Boston should look to so the same. If Benintendi is showing he can handle AA, the Sox should look to promote him to Pawtucket in August for a call-up in September, or give him one more month in Portland before shipping him straight up to Boston.

Next: Koji Uehara goes down with injury

This could be another year where the Red Sox bring in a youngster or two to help secure and further their playoff hopes, before ultimately having them evolve into centerpieces of the organization for the foreseeable future.

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