Many were disappointed to see the Red Sox move on from Andrew Benintendi, a former first-round pick and key contributor to Boston’s World Series team in 2018 (his game-saving catch to bail Craig Kimbrel out of a bases-loaded jam in Houston will forever be entrenched in Red Sox lore) this offseason.
It seemed too early to give up on Benintendi, a member of MLB’s 20/20 club (20 homers and 20 steals) as recently as 2017. After arguably peaking in 2018 (.290/.366/.465 batting line in 579 at-bats), Benintendi regressed the following year (.266/.343/.431) before sinking further into the abyss with an injury-plagued 2020 campaign (4-for-39 in 14 appearances). The Red Sox dealt Benintendi to the Royals as part of a three-team swap in February, officially closing the book on Boston’s “Win, Dance, Repeat” outfield of Benintendi, Mookie Betts (now of the Dodgers) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (Brewers).
Benintendi had been hoping to start anew, beginning his Kansas City tenure with a clean slate after a couple of admittedly lean years in Boston. Instead, the former Golden Spikes recipient (awarded annually to college baseball’s top player) has bottomed out, circling the drain with an anemic .227 average through 44 at-bats in 2021. Benintendi’s power has been nonexistent in that span, resulting in only two extra-base hits (both doubles), each accomplished in the past two days. He’s hit the ball with very little authority, clocking a top exit velocity of just 103.3 mph, per NBC Sports’ Matthew Pouliot.
It’s been 591 calendar days—a span of 140 at-bats—since the 26-year-old last homered. And while long balls have never been a staple of his game, Benintendi’s underwhelming .579 OPS—144th out of 188 big-league qualifiers—couldn’t have been what the Royals had in mind when they took the plunge trading for him this offseason.
Eleven games is much too early to press the panic button and Benintendi is more than capable of righting the ship. In fact, that process may have already begun with Benintendi tallying three hits (albeit with three strikeouts) in his last two outings. But to this point, Benintendi has not looked anything like the player who showed so much promise during his early years in Boston.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram