When it comes to the perception of who won the Andrew Benintendi trade, it has been a roller coaster.
After the first month, you had Benintendi struggling mightily with the Royals with the Red Sox getting just enough from Franchy Cordero to feel OK. Then came May and it wasn't long before the left fielder had become the most consistent hitter on the Royals, with Cordero ultimately landing back in Triple-A.
Heading into June, the Red Sox were reliant on pointing at Josh Winckowski's dominance with Double-A Portland, and the three players-to-be-named-later (who we were able to finally identify Friday) when fending off Benintendi's resurgence.
But now, the Red Sox have a bit more ammunition. It turns out Franchy Cordero can hit, after all.
Since being sent to Triple-A Cordero has shown the promise the Red Sox saw in him when cutting the three-way deal. After this three-hit, two-home run performance Friday night, the lefty hitter owns a .379 batting average to go along with four homers and a 1.316 OPS.
It's a far cry from the images left behind in Boston, where Cordero landed with a .179 batting average and .501 OPS, while striking out 37 times in 34 games.
And to spice up the optimism, Cordero's home runs have certainly left an impression, with the two hit against Rochester traveling 451 and 442 feet, respectively.