Benintendi in the Minors...Majors Now

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 1-4 with a walk in a 4-3 Salem win. Batting average drops to .360. He's probably not too upset with that. Now with a 19 game hitting streak. The 19 game hitting streak is presently the longest active streak in all of minor league baseball.

[JHicks3636]

A few recent articles re Benintendi and his progress

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2016/04/28/andrew-benintendi-yoan-moncada-tearing-carolina-league/RjvFdJiXVZ6EOsKpVFq9gO/story.html

http://www.overthemonster.com/2016/4/26/11510586/red-sox-prospects-andrew-benintendi

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160430&content_id=175345890&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

[westside_player]

joe dimaggio

[JHicks3636]

This week's update. Salem was rained out on Sunday and Monday.

Runs (17)-tied for 6th
Hits (32)-2nd
Doubles (10)-2nd (Dansby Swanson is 1st with 12 and has now been promoted to AA)
Triples (6)- 1st, closest in Carolina League has 3
RBIs (22)- 2nd (the biggest jump this week from 11 and tied for 10th)
Total bases (57)-3rd
Strikeouts (6)-near the bottom of the league(this is good)
Stolen bases (6)-tied for 11th(has been caught stealing twice)
Slugging (.640)-2nd
Average (.360)-2nd
OPS (1.066)-3rd
OBP (.426)- 7th (another area significantly improved since last week)
On the defensive side, he has been charged with 1 error(on a throw)this year.

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 2-4 in each game of a doubleheader tonight as he now has a 21 game hitting streak and is batting .371. One of the hits was a double. The hitting streak is the longest in Salem Red Sox history. Former Hog Jalen Beeks was the winner in Game 1 and has a 3-1 record.

[A_R_K_A_N_S_A_S]

Benintendi goes 2-4 in each game of a doubleheader tonight as he now has a 21 game hitting streak and is batting .371. One of the hits was a double. The hitting streak is the longest in Salem Red Sox history. Former Hog Jalen Beeks was the winner in Game 1 and has a 3-1 record.

[AirForceHog]

I'm surprised the Sox haven't called him up to AA yet

[OnTheHillHogFan]

I'm surprised the Sox haven't called him up to AA yet

No need to rush him. They are barely a month into the season. Give him about another month and then promote him. I would expect him at this pace to be in the big league spring training in a year.

[Kevin]

Swanson from vandy has already moved up to double a from the Carolina league

[jbell96]

I think he's ready for AA as well, but there really isn't much of a rush. Swanson getting called up to AA really has nothing to do with AB, Atlanta needs him in the bigs sooner than Boston needs AB up there, so I'm not surprised he got called up before AB.

[JHicks3636]

Benintedi was named Carolina League Player of the Week. As to his promotion to AA, he is on the same team as Yoan Moncada who is considered Boston's top prospect. He is also having a good year at Salem. I expect either Moncada will be promoted first or both will go up at the same time. By the way, the current AA center fielder is hitting .250 with no homers. I think the AAA center fielder is at .238.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160502&content_id=175811528&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_t414&sid=t414

[jbell96]

Benintedi was named Carolina League Player of the Week. As to his promotion to AA, he is on the same team as Yoan Mocada who is considered Boston's top prospect. He is also having a good year at Salem. I expect either Mocada will be promoted first or both will go up at the same time. By the way, the current AA center fielder is hitting .250 with no homers. I think the AAA center fielder is st .238.

Yeah their AA team is not very good right now, especially their OF's, plus the team is 8-17.

[JHicks3636]

Baseball America names Benintendi to its All-Prospect Team for April. This comprises players from all levels of the minor leagues.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-team-april/#psWiMuJeEBy5f5sD.97

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 2-4 with a triple and 2 rbis tonight. His hitting streak goes to 22 games and he is now hitting .376.

[AirForceHog]

Carolina is at Salem tonight. Mudcat's pitching isn't the greatest. Congrats to Beni for extending the streak.

[AirForceHog]

I'll update after the game but Benintendi has extended his hitting streak to 22 games with an rbi triple in the 3rd inning of tonight's Salem game. Sac fly in the 5th gives him another rbi. Single in the 7th inning and his In-game batting average is .380. Moncada whom I discussed in an earlier post is 3-4 so far tonight and his average sits at .348.

Benintendi is on fire! Another Triple for him and I am loving the average. Braves need to see if they can get him.

[yraciv]

Benintendi is on fire! Another Triple for him and I am loving the average. Braves need to see if they can get him.

Not satisfied with Michael Smith's brother being our future CF?

[AirForceHog]

I am. But I'd love the both of them and move one.

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 2-4 with 2 rbis, 2 runs scored and a stolen base tonight. Extends his hitting streak to 23 games. Ends the night with an average of .381. Salem plays 2 games tomorrow due to Thursday's rainout.

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi getting a lot of press these days

http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2016/05/andrew_benintendi_boston_red_s_1.html

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/05/05/get-to-know-benny-baseball-the-red-sox-next-big-thing/

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/clubhouse_insider/2016/05/potential_promotion_for_andrew_benintendi_will_merit

http://www.overthemonster.com/2016/5/5/11596534/red-sox-promote-andrew-benintendi-prospect

[bulldog04]

A range factor of 3.05 is pretty good also

[SPAL]

A range factor of 3.05 is pretty good also

It is really good

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi's streak ends at 23 as he goes 0-3 in the first game of a doubleheader. Unfortunately they only play 7 innings in doubleheaders. In a regular game he would have gotten one more at bat. One more game to play tonight.

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 2-4 in the 2nd game to start a new streak. He is hitting .375 now.

[JHicks3636]

I know everyone is wondering when Benintendi will be promoted to AA. I expect it to be sometime in the next 2 weeks if not sooner. You have to know a few other things about the Red Sox organization to understand where he stands. The Red Sox have 2 outfielders on the 40-man roster who are not active on the 25-man roster. Castillo is a 28 year old Cuban who only signed in 2014. He is about to turn 29 and is at the age where you need to be making the big club or your days may be numbered. He has actually been up 3 times to the big club including an 80 game stint last year. He has actually hit decently when he has been up. However at AAA he is only hitting .236. Brentz just finished a rehab assignment at AA where he only hit .200 in 13 games. He was sent to AAA on May 6. He is 27 and has been in the minors since 2010. His only MLB experience is 9 games in 2014. His recent promotion did leave a spot open on the AA roster. The golden boy for Boston is 2nd baseman Moncada who is presently playing at A with Benintendi. he is a Cuban defector who got a $31.5 million contract to sign with the Red Sox. He is also tearing up A ball. He can hit(.330), steal bases(19) and walks(22) a bunch. His main problem is that Boston does not need a 2nd baseman. At some point he will probably be moved to a new position. The Red Sox have a 2nd baseman named Pedroia who is pretty good and won't be displaced although he was injured last year and missed about half of the season. Moncada will turn 21 later this month which is the same age as Benintendi. I just can't see the Red Sox moving up Benintendi unless Moncada goes too. Barring injury, the next outfielder who actually starts in Boston will probably play left field as they are set in center and right. Generally a center fielder can play any field as there is less ground to cover in the other two outfield positons. Anyway I expect to be reporting about Andrew at AA in the near future. If you think we are impatient about it, think how he must feel.

[JHicks3636]

Goes 1-5 today with a double and rbi. Average drops to.368. I will update weekly stats after I complete pbp.

[JHicks3636]

The weekly update

Runs (26)-3rd
Hits (43)-1st
Doubles (13)-1st
Triples (6)- 1st
RBIs (29)- 2nd
Total bases (73)-1st
Strikeouts (eight)- least in the league for anyone who has played at least 24 games. He has played 29.
Stolen bases (7)-tied for 10th(has been caught stealing twice)
Slugging (.624)-2nd
Average (.368)-1st
OPS (1.048)-2nd
OBP (.424)- 4th
On the defensive side, he has been charged with 1 error(on a throw)this year.

[JHicks3636]

Salem was off on Monday but is playing tonight. Benintendi is not in the line-up. I find this strange since they had the day off yesterday. I cannot find anything where he might have been promoted. Maybe he is ill or just needs an extra day off. I'll try to find out his status. Some twitter chatter is saying it was just a scheduled day off. I guess it gives him 2 days of needed rest while they are at home.

[JHicks3636]

Good article on Benintendi and Moncada that explains getting promoted and the business of pro baseball.

http://www.overthemonster.com/2016/5/9/11639072/andrew-benintendi-yoan-moncada-red-sox-call-up-promotion

[AirForceHog]

Do you think Beni becomes trade bait?

[JHicks3636]

Do you think Beni becomes trade bait?

I doubt it but you can never say never. I could only see it in a package for a top pitcher. The Red Sox will need an outfielder if Benintendi can progress through AA and AAA. You can't see him dominating in those leagues like he is in A. As the article discusses, the bigger question is where they are going to play Moncada. If they decided to transition him to the outfield, then Benni or him could go somewhere or they might send an older, higher paid veteran from the big team to make room for them.

[89ALUM]

I just spoke to a friend of mine who works in the Royals minor league system.  He told me that after the draft (June 9) there is always a shakeup with rosters.  Likely the Red Sox will draft an outfielder or two, and they'll have to make room at rookie level or low A, which means promotions for some and cuts for others.  He told me that Beni will likely be moving at or around that date, and that he was relatively confident that the Red Sox would bump him to AA, not skipping a level.  Surely Moncada will be on the move as well.

[JHicks3636]

Latest article on Benintendi. Confirms Benintendi's day off and offers further speculation on his track to the Majors. For reference in the article, Benintendi has played in 29 games for Salem this year. He has been given 2 games off this year including last night.

http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2016/05/promoting_red_sox_top_prospect.html

[WizardofhOgZ]

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160511&content_id=177363912&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&tcid=tw_article_177363912

[JackMcQueen]

He's flat out on fire right now. In 54 games last season he had 62 hits, 7 doubles, & 4 triples. In 29 games this season he has 43 hits, 13 doubles, and 7 triples!

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi returned from a couple of day's rest to go 2-4 with a run scored and an rbi. His average rose to .372. He has hit safely in all 3 games since his 23 game hit streak ended.

[JHicks3636]

For only the second time this year, Benintendi has gone hitless in 2 consecutive games. He did have a walk and score a run tonight. His average has "dipped' to .352 from its high of .381.

[k.c.hawg]

Do you think Beni becomes trade bait?

He is the kind of prospect that would allow Boston to go get the best player available around the All Star break. I remember listening to Jim Bowden in an interview and he hit the nail on the head. He said for the Royals to take that next step they are going have to use their system and make some trades that hurt. They traded the #1 prospect in baseball (Will Myers) in the James Shields/Wade Davis trade before 14,  3 lefties for Johny Cueto in 15, and their #1 or #2 pitching prospect for Ben Zobrist in 15. I haven't studied Boston's situation enough to know if it is something they would consider but if he stays in A much longer, it could be they don't want to take any shine off with some struggles while advancing.

Wishing him all the best. Baseball is so unique in how different players of similar skill can have such different tracks to the big leagues.

[JHicks3636]

Benintendi goes 1-3 and drives in the winning run in the 10th. He also walked 3 times to help his OBP. He also scored a run on a steal of home.

[JHicks3636]

The weekly updated on Benintendi. Tough week for him as well.

Runs (30)-3rd
Hits (46)- Tied for 1st, only 3 hits this week
Doubles (13)-2nd
Triples (7)- 1st
RBIs (32)- 2nd, 3 this week
Total bases (76)-1st, 3 this week
Strikeouts (9)- least in the league for anyone who has played at least 24 games. He has played 34.
Stolen bases (eight)-tied for 9th(has been caught stealing twice)
Slugging (.563)-2nd, down about 60 points this week
Average (.341)-Tied for 4th
OPS (1.000)-2nd
OBP (.413)- 4th
On the defensive side, he has been charged with 1 error(on a throw)this year.

[4Lions04]

It looks like he was called up to AA Portland today.

[4Lions04]

It looks like he was called up to AA Portland today.

[Wisco Pig]

It looks like he was called up to AA Portland today.

Yes.   It's being reported by multiple sources, including WEEI in Boston:
http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2016/05/15/red-sox-prospect-andrew-benintendi-promoted-to-double-a-portland/

Congrats, AB.

[JHicks3636]

It looks like he was called up to AA Portland today.

Good find. Took me a while to find confirmation.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2016/05/15/red-sox-promote-andrew-benintendi-portland/J4BLKz0AmIcn9ux7hjEfjI/story.html

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160515&content_id=178385768&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_l122

[JHicks3636]

One of the best, most comprehensive articles I've seen on Benintendi. His new team will play at 5 CDT today. I expect him in the line-up. The Portland Sea Dogs have been woeful this year. Its record is 13-25 and the batting averages of its starters have been below par. I'm hoping Benintendi will lift up the team rather than get pulled down by being surrounded by average or less teammates.

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160516&content_id=178435758&vkey=pr_t546&fext=.jsp&sid=t546

[AirForceHog]

looking forward to seeing if Beni can sustain his success in AA.

[JHicks3636]

Tough start for Benintendi in AA. He went 0-4 with a K. He faced a tough lefty the first 3 at-bats who had a 2.61 era. The last at-bat was against a righty with a 1.04 era. He will find the pitching much more difficult at this level. He'll be okay after some adjustment time.

[AirForceHog]

Man, that's a rough beginning but I am sure he will adjust.

[Cornfed Pig]

At tonight's game in Portland, was glad to see AB batting third!

[Cornfed Pig]

Beni with his first AA hit ties up the game 1-1 in the 3rd.  He walked in his first at-bat