The BoSox Injection staff reflects on the 2016 season by grading each member of the Boston Red Sox based on expectations for them entering the season.
About fifteen months before Andrew Benintendi’s MLB debut with the Boston Red Sox on August 2nd in Seattle, the promising young prospect was finishing up his finals and tearing up collegiate baseball at the University of Arkansas.
That’s how quick the rookie jumped through the minor leagues. Benintendi was drafted on June 8th 2015, and was in the major leagues just under fourteen months later.
Benintendi raked in the minors, hitting .312 with 38 doubles, 16 triples, 20 homers and 107 RBI’s to go along with a 63 to 74 strikeout to walk ratio in just 151 career games.
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With Boston having trouble with offensive production in left field, Dave Dombrowski and company felt that the 22-year old was ready for the show shortly after trade rumors around the deadline.
The second ranked Red Sox prospect took the majors by storm, finishing the season with a .295 average after appearing in 34 games. Benintendi collected his first homer in Detroit on August 21st and was a crucial piece in Boston’s successful month of August hitting .324.
The Red Sox felt Benintendi could be the ‘spark’ the team needed late in the year and push them into the playoffs, similar to what Xander Bogaerts did during his call-up in 2013.
Benintendi had a scare towards the end of August where he tweaked his knee pretty bad trying to go back into second base. The knee injury didn’t prove to be serious but it left the rookie on the disabled list for around three weeks.
Benintendi’s production was enough to start every game down the stretch and into the playoffs. Benintendi was one of the bright spots of Boston’s quick postseason exit as the rookie hit .333 (3 for 9) with a homer and two RBI’s. However, Benintendi’s inexperience in the outfield proved to be a key weakness in the postseason for the Red Sox, as he allowed Roberto Perez to tag up on a routine fly out to left field, which proved to be a key run in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Grade: A
Next: Red Sox have trio of Gold Glove finalists
What’s Next?
It’s almost certain that we can expect Benintendi to be the Red Sox every day left-fielder next season. The twenty-two year old proved that he can compete and be successful at the major league level. The only thing we should be a little worried about is that tough ‘sophomore slump’ that haunted Bogaerts in 2014, but I don’t think it’s much to worry about. This kid is a STUD and will hit at the top of the Red Sox order for many years to come.