The Benintendi Thread

[illinoisredsox]

I cringed when he dove back to 2nd base...all we need is for him to get hurt while pinch running....that had to be wtf moment in major leagues this year....kind of funny..

 

I was a little surprised Blanton faked the throw to second; I thought the pitchers' fraternity rules dictate you don't do that to other pitchers.

[illinoisredsox]

Yup, that was pretty much all that we had. Hanley and Leon were left on the bench, but you certainly don't want to 'waste' either of them as a pinch runner.

 

Wright looked funny as heck out there with a helmet on.

 

This. That left basically using starting pitchers as PRs, since the bull-pen guys might be needed to actually pitch. I thought maybe Pomeranz would be a better choice since he's actually run the bases at least a little this year, but among Porcello, Wright, Porcello and ERod, maybe Wright's the fastest one.

[Nick]

This. That left basically using starting pitchers as PRs, since the bull-pen guys might be needed to actually pitch. I thought maybe Pomeranz would be a better choice since he's actually run the bases at least a little this year, but among Porcello, Wright, Porcello and ERod, maybe Wright's the fastest one.

 

If he's faster than E Rod, I will buy you a drink...

[illinoisredsox]

If he's faster than E Rod, I will buy you a drink...

 

To be fair, my guess is they weren't going to use Porcello since he pitches Tuesday. ERod pitched Saturday, I'm sure he was tired. That leaves Pomeranz and Wright. Wright's got the most time to his next start, so he got the nod.

[moonslav59]

Beni is a baseball player. Does not possess speed of Bradley but runs the bases well. He stole second and came around on a base hit that Bryce Brentz would have NEVER scored. He's a better outfielder than Holt defensively.

 

He was college player of the year. Maybe that doesn't translate all the time. But he has a sweet swing that translates well in the majors. Farrell is the only person that will stop his progress.

 

Will he have some rough patches? Sure...Xander is 4-28 in August. That follows .288 in July. Bradley is 5-25 in August. Ortiz is in midst of 6-44 slump. Even accomplished major leaguers go through rough patches.

 

He should benefit from teams not having a 'book' on him.

 

Quit playing games with this kid and let him play. HE WON'T BE THE REASON WE DON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.

 

Well said, and he might be "A" reason we do make the playoffs.

[moonslav59]

Quote Originally Posted by moonslav59 View Post

RHP Brandon McCarthy goes tonight. He's struggled his last two starts, so maybe tonight is the game Beni busts out.

 

Well, Beni got it done against McCarthy.

The rest of the team, not so much.

 

I had hoped he'd smack his first HR, but he did do well anyway.

[SoxnCycles]

Quote Originally Posted by moonslav59 View Post

RHP Brandon McCarthy goes tonight. He's struggled his last two starts, so maybe tonight is the game Beni busts out.

 

Well, Beni got it done against McCarthy.

The rest of the team, not so much.

 

I had hoped he'd smack his first HR, but he did do well anyway.

 

Nah, save his first HR for Fenway.

[a700hitter]

He's a very small guy. Unless he wraps it around the pole in RF, I would be surprised if he could reach the bullpens.

[moonslav59]

He's a very small guy. Unless he wraps it around the pole in RF, I would be surprised if he could reach the bullpens.

 

Wait and be amazed.

[Hugh2]

Obviously size, strength and leverage are a big function of power but people often underestimate how much is in the bat speed, wrists and swing path. I don't Benintendi is going to be a perennial 30 HR guy but I think he'll easily hit 15-20 most seasons in his prime. He has doubles power too, and the speed to stretch some of them into triples.

 

You don't have to be big to be a HR threat, just look at what guys like Mookie Betts and Altuve are doing this year.

[Bellhorn04]

Obviously size, strength and leverage are a big function of power but people often underestimate how much is in the bat speed, wrists and swing path. I don't Benintendi is going to be a perennial 30 HR guy but I think he'll easily hit 15-20 most seasons in his prime. He has doubles power too, and the speed to stretch some of them into triples.

 

You don't have to be big to be a HR threat, just look at what guys like Mookie Betts and Altuve are doing this year.

 

And Betts has hit 3 homers of 425 feet or longer this year.

[mvp 78]

And Altuve probably can't get the ball out of the infield.

[Nick]

To be fair, my guess is they weren't going to use Porcello since he pitches Tuesday. ERod pitched Saturday, I'm sure he was tired. That leaves Pomeranz and Wright. Wright's got the most time to his next start, so he got the nod.

 

Okay I got a chuckle out of this....too tired to stand at 2B? It's all good.....we're on the same team and not to mention you have some logic behind it....

Edited August 8, 2016 by Nick

[Slasher9]

HoF

book it.

[moonslav59]

This from soxprospects.com

 

"...the last time a Red Sox positional player was called up a season after being drafted was Fred Lynn in 1974...."

 

"Chris Mitchell at FanGraphs runs him through his "KATOH model" and it predicts big things for the 22-year-old. It has a very nice list of comparable players, and also says that he has a greater than 50% chance of having 16+ WAR over his first six seasons and a 30% chance of 20+. Not too shabby."

 

"Every publication and industry expert seemed to want to weigh in on the subject. MLB.com's Jim Callis says he should surpass the weak production the Red Sox have gotten from left fielders right away with more to come as he develops."

 

"Baseball Prospectus' Christopher Crawford was more direct in his praise of Benintendi and his immediate impact potential saying, "There are four plus tools here, and Benintendi is such a smart player with quality instincts that it’s really tough to see him not being an impact player immediately. Baseball is really hard, but Benintendi makes it looks easy."

 

"Baseball America's JJ Cooper calls him "one of the best hitting prospects in the game..."

 

 

On Moncada & others....

 

"Baseball America released their High Class A Best Tools list this week, and Red Sox were all over the Carolina League portion. Top prospect Yoan Moncada alone landed in four spots on the list (most exciting player, best hitter, best baserunner, and best defensive second baseman). Righty Michael Kopech also was given the best fastball, Nick Longhi (pictured, left) was tabbed as the best defensive first baseman, and Rafael Devers as best defensive third baseman...."

[moonslav59]

One more entry of note:

 

Linked to all sorts of players from Chris Sale to Jonathan Lucroy, there was a lot of speculation at the trading deadline of whether the Red Sox would try and pull off a blockbuster trade, and, if so, which elite young players they would include in such a deal. MLB.com's Ian Brown spoke with Red Sox President Dave Dombrowski about the deadline and if they were reluctant to part with Moncada or Benintendi. His answer was definitive: "I would say extremely," said Dombrowski. "They're really good. And they're not the only ones. [Rafael] Devers you could say is pretty close, too. He's a little younger. These guys are special players, and they're not far from the big leagues, either."

[Slasher9]

somehow i had missed this thread. i just read it in it's entirety. pretty interesting to look back and see comments and then see what actually happened.

kudos to Southpaw for pretty much nailing it.

[StephenCurry30]

Did like 3 threads get combined into one?

[Bellhorn04]

Did like 3 threads get combined into one?

 

Looks that way - fine work by our moderator.

[Maxbialystock]

As it is, there are now 34 pages on one little old rookie leftfielder.

 

While I too credit southpaw for making an accurate prediction, I would further say that moving up Benintendi so quickly--skipping AAA--suggests some desperation on the part of Dombrowski. I say this because this has been for most of the season a great hitting ball club. Sure, Holt has reverted to form and stopped getting the big hits, but you can't expect a great hitter in all 9 slots.

 

On the plus side, I freely admit, now that Benintendi appears to have justified this gamble, the Sox now know what they have and so does everybody else. He is the polar opposite of Espinoza, an 18 year old lefty who shows great promise but is still just 18 and years away from the Majors. Is it worth pointing out that the Sox now have three good-hitting outfielders (assuming Benintendi can keep this up) who can all play centerfield with some skill? One of the three could become trade bait. If I had to pick one, it would be JBJ.

[Bellhorn04]

As it is, there are now 34 pages on one little old rookie leftfielder.

 

While I too credit southpaw for making an accurate prediction, I would further say that moving up Benintendi so quickly--skipping AAA--suggests some desperation on the part of Dombrowski. I say this because this has been for most of the season a great hitting ball club. Sure, Holt has reverted to form and stopped getting the big hits, but you can't expect a great hitter in all 9 slots.

 

The word desperation has been tossed around quite a bit this year. If the reasons they moved him up were that they thought he was ready and that he would improve the team and that they would really like to make the playoffs, does that add up to desperation?

[User Name]

Espinoza is a RHP.

[mvp 78]

As it is, there are now 34 pages on one little old rookie leftfielder.

 

This is a lie. I'm only at 26!

[Slasher9]

This is a lie. I'm only at 26!

 

you must have a bunch of people on ignore then.

[mvp 78]

you must have a bunch of people on ignore then.

 

Nope. People on ignore still have their posts show up. It just has a message that says something like "this poster is on ignore."

 

I think you can go in and change the settings for how many posts show up in one page.

[Slasher9]

Nope. People on ignore still have their posts show up. It just has a message that says something like "this poster is on ignore."

 

I think you can go in and change the settings for how many posts show up in one page.

 

thats a bingo!

i just went into settings and changed it to 30 posts per page. it shrunk this thread down to 17 pages.

outstanding.

[Bellhorn04]

Damn, I'm in too.

[mvp 78]

You're welcome everybody!

[Maxbialystock]

The word desperation has been tossed around quite a bit this year. If the reasons they moved him up were that they thought he was ready and that he would improve the team and that they would really like to make the playoffs, does that add up to desperation?

 

The definition of "thought he was ready" almost always includes AAA experience with very few exceptions. Can you name any? I agree they hoped he could improve the team, and maybe help get to the playoffs, but the risk--hence my use of the word desperation--is that he would not be ready, would flounder (see JBJ), and would go back to the minors and maybe take longer to get to Boston.

[Maxbialystock]

This is a lie. I'm only at 26!

 

You mean I gotta tell the truth on here?