Boston Red Sox rookie Andrew Benintendi came into this year with high expectations. The former first round pick was ranked the number one prospect in baseball. Has he lived up to the hype?
It would be easy to just write “yes” and leave this post at that but the Red Sox rookie has already done too much in his young career to merit such a simple post. Andrew Benintendi came into the 2017 season with an unbelievable amount of pressure. He was ranked the top prospect in baseball by Baseball America and before the season had even started, there were calls for him to win Rookie of the Year.
He deserved every bit of the expectations and praise heaped on him. After all, he was electric in his limited playing time in 2016. Called up on Aug 2nd, Benintendi was one of the best Red Sox players down the stretch. In just over 100 PAs, he slashed .295/.359 /476 with 2 home runs. In the post season he went 3/9 with a double and hit a home run in his first at bat.
He also made one of the greatest catches you’ll ever see at Tropicana Field.
Andrew Benintendi with a legitimate bid for catch of the year. #LloveTheGamehttps://t.co/MuiFRzhQRo
— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2016
That was in his 19th MLB game. Early on in his career, Benintendi is already showing us he is special. There were, however, questions coming into the year about how Benintendi would handle his first full season in Boston. Would the pressure get to him?