PORTLAND, Maine — Almost from the time the 2016 season opened in High A Salem, it seemed many shared the same curiosity: How long would it be until Andrew Benintendi moved up to Double A Portland? Perhaps the only person following the 2015 first-rounder’s progress through his first full professional season who did not get caught up in that question was the 21-year-old outfielder himself.
“I wasn’t that curious. I was going to trust the people who make those decisions,’’ Benintendi said at Hadlock Field on Monday, before going 0 for 4 while hitting third for the Sea Dogs in his Double A debut. “All I can do is go out, play, play well, and trust the people who make those decisions.’’
Thus far, those people have seen in Benintendi an unusually advanced player who has been flying up the initial rungs of the minor league ladder. The 2015 College Player of the Year went from a standout season with Arkansas to an initial assignment with the Lowell Spinners of the short-season New York-Penn League.
His performance in Lowell proved so dominant (.290/.408/.540 with seven homers and seven steals in 35 games) that he moved up to Class A Greenville last August. There, he continued to post robust numbers (.351/.430/.581 with four homers in 19 games). This year in Salem, he once again looked like the most polished player on the field, hitting .341/.413/.563 with one homer, 21 extra-base hits, 15 walks, nine strikeouts, and eight steals in 34 games.
That performance convinced the Red Sox Benintendi was ready for the upper levels of the minor leagues less than 12 months after they’d drafted him last June — the shortest draft-to-Double A path by a Red Sox position player since Dustin Pedroia in 2005.
“I don’t think anyone could predict that,’’ Benintendi said. “It just [attests] to a lot of work I’ve put in, the people who have gotten me to where I am today, the support I’ve had, and luck. Put all those things together and it makes a pretty good situation. I’m glad to be in this situation.’’
The news was delivered to Benintendi by Salem manager Joe Oliver and farm director Ben Crockett after a win on Sunday — one in which Benintendi went 0 for 4 while driving in a run by getting hit by a pitch. Their message?
“They called me in and said, ‘You’re going to go up to Portland. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t try to change anything. Just play and have fun,’?’’ said Benintendi. “It’s pretty simple.’’
That outlook has characterized Benintendi’s first 88 games of his pro career, to the point where the Sox’ own decision about his readiness to move up to Portland was likewise relatively straightforward.
Yet soon, the ease with which Benintendi has answered any questions and navigated through his initial professional stops suggests that more interesting questions about future promotions and his potential path to the big leagues lie ahead. For his part, Benintendi hasn’t obsessed about the timing of his promotions to date, so he refuses to dwell on the potentially forthcoming ones.
“I’ve heard that [it’s an unusually fast track] from people. I’m not going to think about it,’’ said Benintendi. “Like I said, I trust the people that make those decisions. I’m going to trust the process. However long it takes to get up there, that’s what it takes. I’m just going to try to play my hardest and play as well as I can.’’
Follow Alex Speier on Twitter at @alexspeier.
