Red Sox Strut: Outfielder Andrew Benintendi, LHP Chris Sale
A weekly article series where we examine two players who deserve to strut their stuff for the Boston Red Sox. This week – Andrew Benintendi, Chris Sale.
If you want to fully understand what the Red Sox Strut is, it means to have reason to walk with a confident, proud air around you. Some people mistake it for vanity, arrogance, or being pompous. This incorrect assumption is not what we mean. The Strut is about knowing that your deeds showed off your amazing skills to the baseball-loving public.
A rare week that included two off days left the Boston Red Sox with only five games since we last looked at which players could Strut. At least they made the most of them.
Boston swept a short two game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay, before traveling to the Bronx to take two out of three against the New York Yankees. While their season-high eight game winning streak was snapped along the way, the Red Sox have still won 10 of their last 11 to extend their lead at the top of the division. They now sit 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees and a whopping nine games ahead of the reeling Rays.
A stretch as dominant as this needs contributions from several players. While there are a couple who stand out among the rest, we have to give credit to the other top performers.
Position Player Candidates
Eduardo Nunez hasn’t stopped hitting since he was acquired from the San Francisco Giants. His hot streak actually extends back to well before the trade. Nunez recovered from a slow start in the first month of the season to hit .340 since the beginning of May. That average is up to .352 over the last 30 days. Last week he went 7-for-23 (.304) with a pair of doubles, which actually dropped his batting average to .318 for the season.
More from Red Sox News
- Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
It’s been a lost season for Brock Holt, who missed significant time with concussion symptoms and struggled to find his timing at the plate when he finally returned. He’s shown flashes of regaining his previous form lately, going 2-for-7 with a double and three runs scored in the three games he played last week.
Rookie third baseman Rafael Devers saw his batting average dip after going 4-for-15 (.267) last week. However, one of those hits was arguably the biggest of his young career. With the Red Sox trailing 2-1 in the ninth inning against the Yankees, Devers blasted a solo home run off closer Aroldis Chapman to tie the game. The 102.8 mph heater was the fastest pitch ever hit for a home run in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). It was also only the second home run Chapman has allowed in his career to a left-handed hitter.
Position Player who gets to Strut
If you’re trying to figure out who the hottest hitter in baseball is this month, look no further than Andrew Benintendi.
The rookie outfielder is tearing the cover off the ball in August, hitting a blistering .457 with a 1.410 OPS, four home runs and 12 RBI in only nine games. The Red Sox sat Benintendi for a couple of days to clear his head and work on the mechanics of his swing. He returned on August 3 with a three-hit performance that proved the brief benching did him a world of difference.
Benintendi went 10-for-22 (.455) at the plate last week. He blasted three home runs during the weekend series in New York, including a two-homer game on Saturday that included six RBI. It was his third multi-home run game, bringing Benintendi’s total to 16 homers this season. His six RBI tied a career high that he set in his last multi-homer game on the Fourth of July in Texas. The 23-year old is now the youngest player in franchise history to record multiple six-RBI games in the same season. He’s also the youngest Red Sox player to drive in six runs in a game against the Yankees.
Clearly the rookie enjoys hitting in Yankee Stadium, although it’s not as if the pitcher-friendly confines of Tropicana Field slowed his bat down. Benintendi warmed up for his trip to the Bronx by collecting five hits, including a double, during the two-game series against the Rays.
Aaron Judge opened up a tremendous lead in the Rookie of the Year race with an MVP-caliber first half, so that honor may be out of reach for Benintendi. However, with the Yankees slugger slumping since the break as Boston’s left fielder is heating up, don’t be surprised if Benintendi at least makes it a more interesting race down the stretch.
Pitching Candidates
It’s a shame that Addison Reed‘s meltdown on Friday night cost the Red Sox the game. It’s always painful dropping a game to the Yankees, but in this case Eduardo Rodriguez deserved better. He deserved the win after tossing six shutout innings in the Bronx, allowing only two hits and striking out seven. E-Rod is developing his own reputation as a Yankees nemesis. He’s 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA in his career against them. If he can ever stay healthy for a full season, Rodriguez has the upside to be a solid No. 2 starter.
More from Red Sox News
- Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group
- Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure
- Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract
- Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record
- Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
Manager John Farrell has stated that he wants to avoid using closer Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning. He wants to avoid extending him for over an inning of work or forcing him to sit between innings before trotting back out to the mound again. That was the explanation for why he wasn’t used on Friday when Reed and Joe Kelly combined to allow the lead to slip away. So naturally, Farrell contradicts that logic by using Kimbrel for four outs in Sunday’s win. Were the rules different because the game went to extra-innings or did Farrell change his mind in light of Friday’s mess, knowing the Red Sox bullpen couldn’t afford to blow another game? The move paid off this time, yet we couldn’t help being concerned about Kimbrel losing control after sitting for a long time between innings.
Rick Porcello‘s latest start was a bit of a mixed bag. He earned the win by tossing six innings and giving up only two runs on four hits. That’s a solid line, although there is some concern that both runs scored on solo home runs. The long ball has been an Achilles heel for Porcello, who has allowed the third most homers in the league this year.
Brandon Workman contributed 2 1/3 flawless innings over two appearances last week. The opposing team can’t score if you don’t let them on base. This is what the Red Sox need in the later innings. At this point, I trust Workman in the setup role more than Matt Barnes. He’s getting close to surpassing Reed as well, although the former Mets closer deserves a longer leash due to his track record.
Pitcher who gets to Strut
The dominance of Chris Sale never gets stale. The lefty provided the Red Sox with a pair of stellar starts last week against division rivals.
Sale produced arguably his best outing of the season last Tuesday, blanking the Rays over eight innings to pick up his league-leading 14th win. He tied a season-high with 13 strikeouts and has now punched out at least 12 Rays hitters in all four of his starts against Tampa Bay this year. Sale’s career 13.5 K/9 rate against the Rays is the highest against a single opponent in the modern era (minimum 75 innings), per the Elias Sports Bureau.
The next victim on Sale’s slate was the Yankees. He allowed only one run on four hits over seven innings of work. He had to settle for an no-decision in a game the Red Sox eventually won in extra-innings, as Sale continues to receive a lack of run support from his offense. Boston scored a total of only five runs during his two starts last week.
Sale now has 16 starts this season in which he’s recorded 10+ strikeouts, trailing only Pedro Martinez for the most in a single season in franchise history (19 starts in 1999). Since 2012, Sale now has 27 games with 12+ strikeouts, the most in the majors during that span. Clayton Kershaw is next on that list with 16.
Next: Observations from Red Sox-Yankees weekend
At this point it’s safe to say that Sale has locked up the Cy Young award. The only debate is whether or not he deserves to be the MVP.