Red Sox: Aaron Boone Talks Benintendi, Royals, and Tebow

ESPN’s Aaron Boone, in an interview with BoSox Injection, discussed the Boston Red Sox, their series with the Kansas City Royals, and even Tim Tebow.

As a former player, before he became an analyst for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball program, Boone knows the dangers that players face on the field. I asked him what he would be telling Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox left fielder who was injured in the game against the Tampa Bay Rays two nights ago. The early report was a left knee sprain, with many question marks surrounding how long the injury would take to heal. At the time of the interview, Benintendi was scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday to confirm the damage that had been done.

Boone replied, “Whether young or old, you just try to be a good teammate for him,” and remind him that “he has, at a very young age and very little professional experience, already come up and impacted a pennant race.” According to Boone, the important thing to remember is that, “no matter what the diagnosis is or however long he has to miss, this has been a great year for him, establishing himself as a real potential cornerstone to the organization.” Benintendi should feel good that he “put himself in a great position with this organization going forward. And, hopefully, the news is okay to where it’s something that’s not too long. But, regardless, his future’s very bright.”

If Benintendi does need to be out of Boston’s lineup for an extended period of time, a replacement in left field would be needed. It was determined after the interview took place that Benintendi’s results were inconclusive and that more tests were needed. Using forethought to that possible diagnosis, I asked Boone about how big Chris Young‘s return to the team is, considering the timing. Boone responded, “Huge. Chris was, obviously, playing very well for [the Red Sox]. To get him, it just gives you that other option […] It just gives you more depth built in,” when thinking that Brock Holt is also an option in that position. “You’re going to miss Andrew, no matter what, but you feel that, from a depth standpoint, with the return of Young that you’re still in good shape, out there.”

Shifting gears in a more positive direction, I asked Boone about David Ortiz becoming the older player to hit 30 home runs in a season. As it stood at the time of the interview, Big Papi was hitting .480 in his last seven games, earning three homers and seven RBIs. Boone chuckled at the question, immediately and enthusiastically replying, “It’s unbelievable!” Boone mentioned that he started to wonder about Ortiz “maybe slowing down,” once he hit into a slump after the All-Star break. “It’s hard for guys, sometimes, to hang it up, because they can still do it in spurts. But what makes David great is the ability to consistently do it.” He added, “I thought that, maybe, his second half of the season would start to tail off, based on the age and the issues that he has, but he’s caught fire again. Probably still in that MVP conversation.”

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Red Sox right fielder

has also been a part of that MVP conversation, over the last few months. When I asked Boone about Boston moving Betts to fourth in the batting lineup, between Ortiz and

, he responded, “I like it. Just because Mookie has become such a great offensive player. Even through the extra-base hit standpoint. This has been the overwhelming strength of the Red Sox team is to have the luxury of running out four guys like [Dustin] Pedroia, [Xander] Bogaerts, Ortiz, Mookie Betts, all hitting over .300 as outstanding hitters.” Boone also believes that the luxury extends to the Red Sox having the option to experiment with Betts, being such a “dynamic hitter,” in different parts of the lineup, instead of making him the automatic option for the leadoff spot.

We moved our own conversation to Boone’s game on Sunday night, between the Royals and the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Since we had just mentioned the Red Sox hitters, I asked Boone what they should be looking for in Kansas City’s starter Yordano Ventura, in terms of strategy. Ventura had 22 strikeouts in his last three games and he posted a 2.03 ERA in the month of August, vastly improving his starts since the All-Star break. Boone replied:

“Ventura is one of those guys who can be two different pitchers. When he’s on top of his game, like it seems that he is right now, he’s tough to beat. His stuff is so dynamic. They’re going to see 99, they’re going to see a guy touching 100 mph. But, also right now, he has a really good feel with the changeup and the breaking ball […] When he’s locating the way he wants, he’s as good as anyone. He can shut down any lineup.”

Boone also provided how Ventura had struggled to start the season: “I think the challenge is that his command isn’t always great. Even right now, he’s been making mistakes. He’s been able to get past these mistakes, but one thing that this Boston lineup can do is […] they have a bunch of guys up and down the lineup that can make you pay, with the long ball or an extra-base hit. Location for Ventura is key, but he needs to consistently do it.”

Simply put, Boone used two words as to the reason for the Royals’ recent success: “their pitching.” The Royals are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak, even though they still sit 7.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central division, and they are also behind a number of teams in the wildcard race. Boone bluntly stated, “They’ve struggled as a staff” in the first half of the season, but “they’re not done yet. They need to finish strong this final month and a half of the season. The way you pull off a lot of winning streaks … it’s hard to hit your way into that, but when you pitch the way that they have, it gives you the opportunity. If the Royals have any chance of making it to the postseason, their pitching is going to have to be as good as it’s been in the last month.”

Switching to Boston’s own pitching staff, at the time of the interview, there wasn’t an official word as to which pitcher had the responsibility of starting on the mound for Sunday night. Eduardo Rodriguez was to throw a bullpen session on Thursday, to build up his confidence after suffering a sore hamstring in his last start. Clay Buchholz had been filling in for the injured Steven Wright, but Wright was scheduled back in the rotation for Friday’s game to open the series with the Royals.

I asked Boone whether Buchholz should be in the starting rotation or if he should remain in the bullpen. He began his response by comparing him to Ventura: “When Clay Buchholz is good, he’s as good as anyone in the league. But his lows are pretty low, too. The challenge with Clay is always to keep him mechanically sound, trying to keep him throwing the ball well. As long as he’s in that frame of mind of throwing the ball well, I think that he can be valuable in any role.”

Regarding Rodriguez, Boone said that news just came that Rodriguez will be starting for the Red Sox on Sunday night. He added that, considering Rodriguez is throwing the ball well, “David Price’s now throwing the ball better, [Rick] Porcello’s obviously having a great year, and with Steven Wright back and [Drew] Pomeranz throwing better, the starting rotation for Boston has been excellent.”

Boone did seem to lean more to having Buchholz stay in the pen, unless needed to fill in for one of the other starters, considering the issues that the relievers have had: “I think where you concern yourself a little bit is the bullpen for the Red Sox, so as long as Rodriguez is healthy, sound, and throwing the ball well, then maybe Clay can have an impactful role in the pen. But he also gives you that protection that if something does go wrong with Wright or Rodriguez you’ve got Clay, and you’ve got him in a pretty good frame of mind throwing the ball as good as he has in the last year and a half.”

Before letting Boone go, I felt compelled to ask him one more question. A question that I wasn’t sure that he would want to answer, with all of the media circus surrounding the issue. In fact, I gave him the opportunity, not that he needed my permission, to refuse to comment on the matter. The question was about Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback who was planning to have a workout in front of scouts from 20 MLB teams, including the Royals and the Red Sox.

To my surprise, and delight, Mr. Boone was more than gracious enough to answer the question, and was very honest about his thoughts on Tebow: “It’s hard for me to envision him being to get to and have any significant role in the big leagues at some point, just because of the fact that he is 29 years old.”

Based on the video that Boone admitted seeing, he believes that Tebow “will have a pretty good tryout. He’s going to show you a really good athlete, he’s going to show you strength, he’s going to show you some power and speed. He might even show you a good swing which, from the videos I’ve seen, he does look like he’s got a pretty good swing.”

However, Boone did not pull any punches about his concerns with Tebow trying to make it to the big leagues: “I think the biggest thing is that he needs to go play and face competition, face pitching. Can he handle professional pitching that’s trying to get you out. I’m fairly confident that he’s going to look good in the workout, but I’d be a lot more intrigued if he was a 24-year-old than at 29.” Boone, with a professional but direct tone, added, “Even if it goes really well, at what age could he realistically get to the big leagues? And then you’re starting to talk about a guy who’ll start to be going to the downside of his physical prime. He’s up against that clock and that clock is definitely ticking.”

Next: Red Sox: Does Benintendi injury mean left field is cursed?

Ever the consummate professional, Boone answered every question with everything that he had, even with a very busy schedule. He had hefty list of work to do for the Little League World Series, including covering the games in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Between all of that, and his work with Sunday Night Baseball, he still found enough time and energy to give insight as to where the Red Sox stand as a franchise. It must be hard to have all of those tasks on his plate and still keep a smile; however, as I watched him working with the kids at the ballpark, commentating on the game and the young players, I got the sense that baseball isn’t work for him. Whether it’s Tebow-Time or Little League or the majors, Boone loves this game at any level and he’s willing to give his time to help it grow around the world.

* For more information on the Royals vs. Red Sox game on Sunday, check out the following:

Sun, Aug 28 at 7 p.m. – Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet with Adnan Virk, Eduardo Perez, Dallas Braden, and Tim Kurkjian on ESPN

Sun, Aug 28 at 8 p.m. – Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox presented by Taco Bell with Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone, Jessica Mendoza, and Buster Olney on ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes,  and ESPN Deportes Radio.

** All also available on WatchESPN.