Jason Mastrodonato, Evan Drellich,
Herald:
Top prospect Andrew Benintendi is to meet the team in Seattle today, the Red Sox announced last night, setting up the addition of one of the best players in the minor leagues to an already top-shelf offense. Benintendi is to skip Triple-A Pawtucket. President of baseball operation Dave Dombrowski said earlier this season he has no fear jumping a prospect from Double-A, if the prospect is ready. ...
Benintendi, 22, is a left-handed hitter and was the team’s first-round draft pick at No. 7 overall just a year ago. After being named the Golden Spikes winner as the best player in college baseball at the University of Arkansas, he made a giant splash his first year as a professional, hitting .313 with a .972 OPS and 11 homers with 10 stolen bases in 54 games between Lowell and Greenville.
He hit .341 with with a .976 OPS over 34 games with Salem before he was promoted to Portland earlier this year. He was hitting .295 with an .872 OPS in Portland.
Scott Lauber,
ESPN:
After refusing to include Benintendi in any deals before the trade deadline, the Red Sox plan to call up their 2015 first-round draft pick and top outfield prospect from Double-A Portland on Tuesday to join their road trip in Seattle, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed to ESPN late Monday night. ...
Benintendi was ranked No. 3 by ESPN in Keith Law's midseason Top 50 prospects.
Benintendi is expected to make his major league debut Wednesday night.
Alex Speier, 108 Stitches:
ReplyDeleteBenintendi is on a fast track unlike any Red Sox in recent years – or, arguably, in Red Sox history. He’s spent just 63 games in Double A; only Jackie Bradley Jr. (61 games in Double A) spent fewer games in the upper levels of any Red Sox starter prior to his promotion to the big leagues.
Yet Bradley still had a full year in the Red Sox farm system (2012) along with a big league spring training camp before his summons to the big leagues for the start of the 2013 season. In the 51 years of Major League Baseball’s draft, no Red Sox first-round position player has ever gotten to the big leagues in the middle of his first full professional season. That said, it became clear to team officials very soon after they selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 draft that Benintendi had a chance to race to the big leagues faster than any prospect the team had seen in years. ...
In 151 games in the minors, Benintendi has dominated consistently save for a two-week struggle at the start of his time in Portland. He owns a .312/.392/.540 line with 20 homers, 74 extra-base hits, 74 walks, and 63 strikeouts (along with 26 steals) in that time. In Portland, he recovered from his initial transition to hit .323/.389/.586 with more walks than strikeouts over his last 50 games, culminating in a 4-for-5 performance with two homers and two doubles on Sunday.
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