Benintendi slump of little concern
OAKLAND, Calif. — After going 0-for-4 yesterday with two strikeouts, it’s clear that it’s going to take more time before Andrew Benintendi emerges from the first significant hitting slump of his young career.
Given that Benintendi is blessed with half a ton more hitting ability than nearly every other rookie in the game, and has already staked a claim to the cleanup spot in the Red Sox lineup, hitting coach Chili Davis is not especially concerned about the dry spell.
It happens to every hitter — well, almost all of them.
“Albert Pujols didn’t, Mike Trout hasn’t yet . . .” said Davis with a chuckle at just two ridiculously talented outliers. “Most players do go through it, though, and I think it’s better to go through it earlier than later in your career. You learn how to manage your days and manage your at-bats when you’re not feeling, quote, ‘ sexy at the plate.’
“You’ve got to manage those at-bats, you’ve got to mix in the walks, mix in the sac flies, the hard-hit ball, the quality at-bats. When you learn to do that at this level, then you give yourself a lot more chance to have success.”
Benintendi was given a day off at the start of this Oakland series while mired in an 0-for-26 stretch in which he did not so much look overmatched at the plate but more overthinking it. He rebounded with a 2-for-4 effort Saturday, but it’s clear after yesterday that it was a temporary halt to the slide.
That Benintendi was not striking out much (four times) during his long 0-fer and was able to draw four walks told Davis that there was not a whole lot wrong. It’s noteworthy to recall that Benintendi has only 74 games of big league experience and played in only 151 minor league games.
Yes, he’s pressing, said Davis, but a tweak, both mental and physical, is what’s needed, not an overhaul.
“He’s fine, he’ll be fine. He’s a good hitter, he’s got great hands, great natural ability,” Davis said. “I’m going to be honest: If I didn’t think he could hit, then I’d be like ‘OK, maybe he’s coming back to earth.’ I don’t think that’s the case with him. He’s a good enough hitter to where he’s going to make the adjustment.
“He plays every day. You get to the point sometimes where you get a little fatigued and something changes — your hands drop, your swing gets a little longer. When you’re swinging good, you’re seeing everything with the baseball — you see it out of the hand, you see the movement, you see the speed. When you’re not going good, everything comes out of the hand looking like a fastball to you and you don’t pick up the pitch.”
Davis does not believe that Benintendi’s move to the 4-hole two days before the hitless streak began has anything to do with it.
“I thought he could handle hitting fourth, and I still do,” Davis said. “It doesn’t mean he has to hit for power, it just means he has to be the hitter he is. Sometimes you try to do more when you hit third, fourth or fifth in the lineup, but wherever you hit in the lineup you just have to be yourself. That’s why you’re there, because somebody thinks that the style that you bring fits that slot in the lineup.”