Boston Red Sox: 3 regular season goals for Andrew Benintendi in 2019
By Justin Keene
1.Hit 20 Home Runs and bat above .300
This past year was Benintendi’s best season of his young career. Being at the beginning of his prime, there is excitement for what’s next to come. We should now start to see what his floor will be for years to come.
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Andrew Benintendi has hit for 38 home runs over 333 games in 3 years. In his first full big league season in 2017, Benintendi hit 20 home runs. Last year, those numbers dropped down a little bit to 16, when he was fixated at the number 2 spot in the lineup. Being leadoff, all he has to focus on is getting on base, but Benny definitely has the ability to hit it out of the yard.
Pitchers are most likely to have their nerves racing when facing the first batter with the Fenway faithful screaming and yelling at them in the bottom of the first inning , immediately after Chris Sale strikes out the side. Benintendi is where the Red Sox offense starts, and nothing is better than a leadoff home run.
Benintendi had a career high 168 hits in 2018, good for 12th in the American League and 24th in all of baseball. He also carried a batting average of .290, ranking 15th in the AL and good for 30th in the MLB. Benny is going to get more plate appearances in moving up in the order. Bringing his average up to .300 is feasible.
The Boston Red Sox lineup could be even more deadly than it was in 2018. With Andrew Benintendi batting and having a loaded lineup behind him, opposing teams are going to pitch to him. We are in for a treat, as he is going to grow and become a better hitter right in front of our eyes.