2020 will largely go down as a lost season for the Boston Red Sox. Mookie Betts got traded, Alex Cora got whacked, and Chris Sale is having arm problems again. That doesn’t mean it has to be a lost season for everybody. If anybody is in line for a good 2020, it’s outfielder Andrew Benintendi. The Sox left fielder has a lot to prove this upcoming season. Is Benintendi due for a breakout season in 2020? There’s a lot of reason to say yes.
Andrew Benintendi finished 2nd in rookie of the year voting in 2017. The former first round pick from Arkansas burst onto the scene in a big way. Benny smacked 20 homers in his first full year in the bigs. The following year, he followed it up with a .290/.360/.465 campaign. It felt like only a matter of time until stardom. Then 2019 happened.
A lot of things went terribly wrong for Benny in 2019. A: for some odd reason, he thought it was a good idea to gain a bunch of weight and bulk up. Boy, did it backfire. Benintendi looked less athletic, his power numbers dipped, and he started striking out more. Benny struck out 140 times in 2019 which is a career high by a mile. The .266 average is also a career low. There seems to be a direct correlation and Benintendi has now slimmed back down in 2020.
B: Benintendi was horrendous leading off games. Switching the batting order last year may have been the single dumbest thing the Red Sox did year year. Andrew Benintendi was horrendous leading off games a year ago. Benny had a .119 average in 48 games during the first at bat of the contest. God help me if the Red Sox put him back in the lead off spot again. Some dudes just aren’t built to be the lead off man and that’s ok.
Benintendi, 25, should be ready to hit the prime of his career. 2020 is the chance to get back to where he should have been the whole time. Boston should theoretically have two cornerstone outfielders to build around in the future with Andrew Benintendi and Alex Verdugo. 2020 is going to be a lost season for the Red Sox. That doesn’t mean it has to be for Andrew Benintendi. Benny’s breakout season is something to watch for the upcoming season.
