Benintendi Just Misses First Career Homer, But Continues To Shine At Plate
BOSTON (CBS) -- Red Sox rookie Andrew Benintendi isn't slowing down now that he's in the major leagues.
Boston's No. 2 prospect, who made the jump from Double-A to the majors just last week, hasn't looked like a 22-year-old rookie at the plate. After going 3-for-3 in his Fenway Park debut on Tuesday night, Benintendi is now 8-for-16 with three runs scored and three RBIs in his six games as a professional.
"It's something I've dreamt of, not just since I've been drafted but since I was a little kid," he said of making his first appearance at Fenway. "To walk into the stadium and take BP and things like that, especially here at Fenway, it's a dream come true."
Benintendi picked up his first career double in the fifth inning, driving in Sandy Leon to give Boston a 3-2 lead, but that blast easily could have been his first career home run if not for the wackiness of Fenway Park. He crushed a 98 miles per hour offering from Yankees starter Luis Serevino to deep center that hit off the yellow line that separates the Green Monster from the center field stands. Benintendi stood at second as he awaited a call from the umpires, who got together and ruled the hit to be a home run.
But after Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked for a review of that ruling, video replay overturned the call. Fenway Park rules state that the ball must hit to the right of the yellow line for it to be a homer run, so Benintendi remained at second.
That's just one of the many quirky aspects of Fenway that Benintendi will have to get used to, but it sounds like he'll have plenty of time this season to figure out all the nooks and crannies of the old ball yard. He didn't sound very bothered by the call after the 5-3 win either, given he scored two batters later.
"It was fine. I was happy with whatever outcome they saw. My job was to get that run in from third base, and I did," he told reporters. "So it really was irrelevant at that point."
That hit started a three-run inning for Boston, leading to another first for Benintendi:
The way the rookie is hitting the ball, that first major league homer will come soon enough. The plan was to only have him in the lineup against righties, in hopes of not putting too much on the plate of a player who was just drafted 14 months ago, but his early success has manager John Farrell already considering more playing time for the youngster.
The way he is playing, it's hard not to imagine Benintendi as an everyday player at this point.
