Benintendi On Debut: 'A Dream Come True'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Andrew Benintendi was supposed to spend his first day in the big leagues soaking up as much as he could. Instead, he ended up getting a pair of important at-bats.
The Red Sox' No. 2 prospect made his major league debut in Tuesday night's disappointing 5-4 loss to the Mariners in Seattle, pinch-hitting in the seventh inning and going 0-for-2 at the plate. He grounded out to second in his first at-bat at the big league level, and then struck out looking on three pitches to end the game in the top of the 9th. In the 22-year-old's defense, the 99 mile per hour fastball he was called out on was a few inches off the plate, but that's what he can expect as he learns the way things are in the bigs.
While he would have loved to have been the hero on Tuesday night with some different results in his two at-bats, just making his debut made the evening a special one for Benintendi.
"It was a dream come true. I've been dreaming about that moment since I was a kid," he told reporters after the loss, saying it was pretty big to get his first at-bats out-of-the-way early. "It went by really fast. Not exactly what I hoped for, but a lot of season left."
The rookie now has some experience to learn from, too, starting with his strikeout in the ninth.
"[Seattle closer Edwin Diaz] was throwing pretty hard and I got behind in the count. I put myself in a tough spot," he admitted. "There is always stuff you can learn from. The things I learned today I'll take it into tomorrow and hopefully play better."
Benintendi joins a Red Sox team battling for a Wild Card spot in the American League. The expectations are there for the highly touted prospect, but the plan is to ease him into his role on the roster, platooning left field with Bryce Brentz (Tuesday night's starter). Manager John Farrell said the plan is to start Benintendi when a right-hander is on the mound for the opposition, and he's expected to have his name in the starting lineup card for the first time on Wednesday night.
Benintendi's late-season call-up is similar to the one shortstop Xander Bogaerts received back in 2013. Bogaerts was called up on August 19, and after being eased into the lineup he played a major role on Boston's World Series championship team, starting at third base over Will Middlebrooks in the final games of the fall classic.
With young stars like Bogaerts, Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. (the last Red Sox player to make the jump from Double-A to the majors before Benintendi), he'll have plenty of advice offered up in the locker room as he takes the next step in his career.
"Hopefully he can come in and play the same game he's been playing. Don't change anything," Bogaerts offered up as advice. "That's the biggest part; once you start going bad in the big leagues you tend to change stuff. Just stick to whoever you are and the plan you have that has been working your minor league career, and just stay with it up here.
"He's just got to come in and have fun; play the game the right way, hustle down the line and help us win games," Bogaerts added. "Right now we're trying to win games. We're not worried about him hitting .200 for us or .500 for us. We just want him to come in and be the same guy he was, help the team out."