New Power Won’t Change Benintendi

BOSTON—Even outfielder Andrew Benintendi found the display of power surprising at times.

The 2015 first-rounder recognized that he had more in the tank than he’d shown as a freshman at Arkansas, when he’d gone deep only once while playing through injuries.

After all, he had reached double digits in homers in both his junior and senior year of high school in Cincinnati.

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Still, that precedent hardly pointed to a 5-foot-10 batter who would lead Division I with 20 homers in 288 plate appearances with the Razorbacks before going deep 11 more times in 240 PAs in his pro debut.

The 21-year-old Benintendi acknowledged uncertainty about what the future now holds after batting a composite .313/.418/.556 in 54 games at short-season Lowell and low Class A Greenville.

“I was thinking about that the other day: Do I try to change my game to hit more home runs? I just keep swinging, I guess,” said Benintendi, whom Boston selected seventh overall. “I don’t think about much—just hit the ball hard, and wherever it goes, it goes. I don’t think I’m going to try to change my game.

“I describe myself as a gap-to-gap hitter . . .

I’m just going up there trying to hit the ball hard . . . I’m not trying to hit home runs. It just happens.”

Though power became a regular facet of Benintendi’s game in 2015, the scouting raves about his performance focused on other facets of his game. He showed ease both in center field and at the plate, demonstrating an ability to make pitch-to-pitch adjustments that allowed him to stand out in pro ball.

“I think I started to recognize how people pitch me—pitch sequences,” Benintendi said. “I learned that a lot (in 2015), so I tried to take that into (pro ball) and applied that. So far, it’s gone well.”

Benintendi’s advanced approach suggests that he has a chance to fly through the system. For now, he is not focused on timetables.

“That’s out of my control,” he said. “All I can do is play, and wherever (the Red Sox) put me, they put me. But my goal is to work my way up as fast as I can.”

SOX YARNS

• The Red Sox signed 18-year-old Australian Brad Inglis, a 6-foot-4 righthander with an 86-90 mph fastball and a big breaking curveball.

• Triple-A Pawtucket announced that it has put plans for a new ballpark on “the back burner” after encountering resistance to plans to move the team to Providence, R.I.