WATCH: Andrew Benintendi's Dominance On Display Across All Levels
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Andrew Benintendi is on his way up to the Boston Red Sox.
While some may feel it's a rushed decision for the Red Sox -- a panic move, so to speak -- there are two realities at play. For one, the Red Sox need a shot in the arm in left field, where they rank ninth in the AL in OPS. But secondly, Benintendi's been just too good at every level thus far. It's well worth the Red Sox' while to see if that can extend to the big leagues.
He started this year in high-A ball and batted .341 in 34 games. Among his many ridiculous stats was the most ridiculous stat: He hit six triples in his first 13 games. Six triples in 52 at-bats. It defies logic. He also hit four doubles in that span while batting .327 in that time.
Of his 46 hits in Single-A, 21 went for extra bases, good enough for a gaudy .563 slugging percentage. And so, it was time to move up.
In Double-A, he barely slowed down. After a 2-for-17 start in his first week, he's since rattled off 23 multi-hit games. He's continued to hit triples, albeit at a more human pace, and he upped his homer total from one in Single-A to eight in Double-A.
One way or another, it's worth a shot to see if the kid can bring some of that power and speed to a Red Sox lineup that might need a little boost as the dog days of summer kick in.
But numbers are just numbers. Occasionally, we need some visual evidence. So here's a roundup of some of the best footage available of Benintendi's athletic prowess.
Bombs Away
He got all of that one.
Benintendi's two homers that day came off a pitcher named Rainy Lara, who has a 4.20 ERA at Double-A and has served up 11 total homers on the year. And the pitch looked particularly fat. But at the very least, Benintendi showed he can capitalize on a pitcher's mistake.
He just cleaned that one out. Likewise, it came against a pitcher with a high ERA 4.53 who's given up 11 bombs on the year. But that thing was destroyed.
For those of you keeping track at home, that's now two homers in a row where the right fielder didn't even move. He just turned around, slumped his shoulders, and considered retiring from the sport he loves.
Hey, what do you know? Another no-doubter.
This one, too, came against a pitcher with some ugly stats (5.27 ERA), but again, he demolished it.
I'm sorry, I'm a bit distracted here by the single greatest call of a Single-A home run in the history of baseball. You would've thought that bomb won the World Series. But nope, just a Single-A baseball game in September 2015.
The Single-A camerawork, however, does leave something to be desired. But while we can't see the end result of that dinger, we can see the swing. And we haven't seen a smooth, seemingly effortless lefty swing like that since ... OK, no need to say it. But you know what it looks like.
At least the right fielder gave a courtesy jog after that one. This one actually came against a pretty good pitcher in Chance Adams, who's 7-0 with a 2.13 ERA on the year. This was just one of five homers he's given up in Double-A in 2016.
In a separate story, can we all raise some money to get some better cameras at these ballparks? It looks like Benintendi hit that bomb in 1979.
It's like the broadcast crews are doing it on purpose. This is what it would look like if Benintendi hit a home run in one of those "Make Your Own Music Video" studios at shopping malls in the '80s.
That's a lot of power from a little fellow. Nice, compact swing too. Watch that one in slow-mo.
Here's another look at that blast:
And let's fit in one Arkansas dinger.
If we were to try to cover all of his collegiate feats, we'd need a whole separate post. But one had to be included. That's a professional bat flip, folks. I also liked how the camera didn't go into a fuzzy blur while zooming out and losing track of the baseball. Nice touch by the broadcast there.
Extra Bases
You ideally would like to see the actual play instead of a catcher standing still and watching, but that's what we've got. We can assume, based on just the timing of the play, that Benintendi was flying. Even after the ball came down over the center fielder's head, it didn't look like a stand-up triple would be in the cards.
The opposite field hasn't made much of an appearance in these videos, until those two. Might be a useful swing for Benintendi there as he adjusts to big league pitching.
OK, so not all triples are created equally.
OK ... so not all doubles are created equally, either.
Real casual, real comfortable.
He certainly hits all types of doubles.
That's obviously just a single and an error, but A) the opposite field line drive, and B) the wheels.
Defense
Assuming Benintendi makes his MLB debut on this current road trip, he'll be doing so in the reasonably sized outfields of Safeco Field and Dodger Stadium. That is to say, he won't have the security blanket known as the Green Monster behind him as he gets his first innings in the majors.
But that shouldn't necessarily be a problem.
(I spent a silly amount of time trying to roll through the grainy footage there, and I think he actually did catch it. It's hard to tell with that Sony Handycam footage, but I think he caught it.)
Not bad.
Obviously, the jump from Double-A to MLB is a big one. It's almost assured that those extra-base hits will come a bit more spaced out, and some slumps are sure to pop up if he does get some regular playing time. But even through the amateur exploration of YouTube videos, the kid's skills are clear as day, and it's obvious that some of them are sure to transfer to the big league level.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
