Boston Red Sox: 5 homegrown players on the path to greatness
Andrew Benintendi
Remember Trot Nixon?
If you don’t, Nixon was a former Boston Red Sox outfielder with high expectations when he was called up to the big club. He never really became a superstar in the league, but he became a solid player who helped the team capture their first World Series back in 2004.
Like Nixon, current Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi entered the big leagues with similar expectations. He can hit, he has power, he can play the field and has all the ingredients to be great except inconsistency has been his middle name through the first four seasons of his MLB career.
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Still just 25 years old, Benintendi has shown signs of being a dominant offensive player with his best season so far being his official rookie season in which he hit .271 with 20 homers and 90 RBI. That was enough to land him as a runner up for AL Rookie of the Year.
In 2018, the power numbers didn’t increase as expected, but Andrew Benintendi was a major factor in the team’s 108-win season and World Series championship with his ability to get on base and score runs. His defense was also a key factor in the team’s success.
In all, Andrew Benintendi is still very young and has a chance to breakout into the star player he is expected to be. Will that be with the Boston Red Sox? What happens with Mookie Betts can be a factor, but consistency at the plate will be the difference between him becoming the next version of Trot Nixon or at least a top 5 outfielder in MLB.
Benintendi took a step back in 2019 with just 13 homers and 68 RBI, but perhaps that breakout season is ahead in 2020 with expectations dampened just a bit.