With his speed he could chase down balls in the outfield gaps, and he featured a quick left-handed bat. Boston wanted that talent and promoted him straight from Portland to the big leagues.
That was Josh Reddick in 2009, the last Red Sox everyday minor leaguer to jump from Double-A to the majors.
Since the Sea Dogs became Boston’s Double-A affiliate in 2003, only two everyday players have done it – Reddick and Hanley Ramirez in 2005.
There could be a third, if the Red Sox president, Dave Dombrowski, sees a need to bring up speedy Sea Dogs center fielder Andrew Benintendi, and his quick left-handed swing.
“He’s played very well but I won’t get into individual cases,” Dombrowski said last week. “But I’ve never felt Triple-A was a necessity for players to jump … If you do well in Double-A, against that type of competition, you show that you can perform.
“We have young kids coming. Benintendi’s coming – I don’t know if it’s this year or next year.”
There is some speculation that Portland second baseman Yoan Moncada could get a call to Boston – but that rumor isn’t coming from Dombrowski, but more likely from the hype Moncada generated over his signing bonus and recent MVP performance in the Major League Baseball Futures Game in San Diego last Sunday.
When Reddick was promoted, Boston was trying to piece together a contending team. He batted .169 in 27 games, spread over the rest of the season, and wasn’t on the postseason roster. Boston was a wild card and lost in the first round.
Reddick eventually spent the rest of his Red Sox career bouncing between Boston and Triple-A Pawtucket before being traded to Oakland after the 2011 season.
Ramirez was different. He got a quick two-game September call-up after Portland was eliminated from the 2005 playoffs. He was traded after the season and became the Marlins’ starting shortstop in 2006. Ramirez never has played in Triple-A.
Ramirez may have been the most publicized Red Sox prospect to come to Portland until Moncada showed up. Moncada, 21, the muscular player that Boston paid $63 million to sign, hit a nationally televised home run to the upper deck of Petco Park in San Diego last week in the Futures game, adding more hype to his name.
But while Moncada has the obvious strength – and may be a true five-tool player someday – Benintendi, 22, is more of a well-rounded player right now, with a more polished glove and approach at the plate.
But could Benintendi jump to Fenway this year?
“I don’t see why not,” Sea Dogs Manager Carlos Febles said. “I’ve seen guys go from Double-A to the big leagues … including myself.”
Indeed, Febles was a 22-year-old Double-A infielder in Wichita, Kansas, when the Kansas City Royals called him up in September 1998. Febles was in his third full year as a pro.
“The difference between (Benintendi) and me is that this is only his first full year in professional baseball,” Febles said. “That being said, the guy’s got the tools and something he will never struggle with – speed. He has a nice swing.
“What’s he going to do at the plate (in the majors)? I don’t know. When you put him in the outfield, you don’t lose anything.”
The promising part about Benintendi’s game is he can figure things out. After being promoted from advanced Class A Salem, he began slowly in Portland.
“I ended in Salem in a little bit of a skid and then brought it here,” Benintendi said. “And obviously the competition here is better. Just had to work through that and try to learn things; hopefully taking the stuff I learned and putting it to work.”
Through June 9, Benintendi was hitting .204 in 20 games with four doubles, one triple and no home runs.
Since then Benintendi is batting .353 in 28 games, with nine doubles, two triples and seven home runs.
“Just getting to know the league a little bit,” Sea Dogs hitting coach Jon Nunnally said. “He’s a pretty smart kid.
“He can use the whole field well. He’s starting to use the middle of the field and left- center more. Everyone knows he can pull a baseball like no other.”
According to the spray charts on mlbfarm.com, Benintendi hits singles to all fields, with his power – home runs and triples – mostly coming in right and right-center.
Benintendi could run forever on the bases with a line drive into Fenway Park’s right-field corner. Will he get a chance this year?
“It’s obviously the goal,” Benintendi said. “It’s always been in the back of my head to get there someday … Whether it’s this year or whenever, it’s still going to be my goal.”
While Benintendi has only played center, Febles said it wouldn’t take long for him to adjust to a corner spot, like left field – since Jackie Bradley Jr. is in center field.
But does Boston need another left-handed hitting outfielder? Brock Holt just came back from the disabled list and the Red Sox expect Blake Swihart to return from his severely sprained ankle. Not sure where Benintendi would fit in. That may depend on Swihart’s recovery.
While Benintendi has only played center, Moncada has only played second base, a position held by Dustin Pedroia in Boston.
Moncada eventually will have to switch positions – third base makes sense – but Boston is in no rush.
“He still has to work on his overall game, to be honest with you,” Febles said. “He’s a guy who is going to hit. Defensively, he needs some things cleaned up, even though he is such a great athlete.
“On the bases he gets good jumps. But he has to continue to work on them because the higher he goes (opposing teams are) going to pay more attention to the running game.
“He’s only 21 years old and he has a lot to improve.”
In other words, Moncada can sometimes dominate in the minors but because there are areas to be improved, he will be exposed at higher levels.
One of those areas is his right-handed hitting. The switch-hitting Moncada is batting .324/1.010 OPS in 17 games, but only .100/.282 right-handed with one hit and seven strikeouts in 11 plate appearances. One of the problems is facing more left-handers to get experience.
“You’ve just got to give him reps,” Nunnally said. “Hopefully he gets enough games (against lefties).”
Moncada said he isn’t thinking about the majors, even though he’s in Double-A.
“Not really,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “Even though we have two more steps (to the majors), I just trust the process – and this is a process.”
When will that process lead to Fenway? Maybe Benintendi gets a call-up this year and a chance to compete for the starting left-field job next season. Maybe Moncada gets a call-up later in 2017.
Both of their arrivals will be highly anticipated.
As Dombrowski said, “we have young kids coming.”
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