Yankees’ Andrew Benintendi ready to lead New York’s rebound

By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

NEW YORK — Andrew Benintendi was not going to let Max Scherzer get to him. Not this time. 

It was Monday night in the Bronx, and the Mets were in town for the final Subway Series of the regular season. Benintendi was not yet a Yankee for last month’s showdown between the crosstown rivals. He didn’t know it at the time, but when the Mets swept the Yankees on July 26 and 27 at Citi Field, he was enjoying his last two days as a member of the Kansas City Royals organization.

Then, Scherzer plowed through the Yankees’ lineup, striking out Aaron Judge on sliders three times and pitching seven shutout innings in front of 43,693 fans in Flushing. But there was no Benintendi then. 

On Monday, as a first-time participant in the buzzed-about Subway Series, Benintendi was determined to be the difference-maker for the Yankees’ lineup. He was trying not to think about his history with Scherzer; 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The game plan, Benintendi said, was to be aggressive, attack early and get to Scherzer before he got to him. Boy, did it work. Benintendi went 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch, two RBIs and a run scored in the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Mets at Yankee Stadium. In doing so, the left-handed outfielder sparked an offensive performance that had been absent the past few weeks in the Bronx.

Benintendi’s gritty at-bats irked Scherzer all night. In the fifth inning, with the Yankees leading 2-0 and a runner on third with no outs, Benintendi pounced on Scherzer’s cutter and ripped it over the first-base bag and into the right-field corner for an RBI double. In their next and final meeting, Benintendi sat on Scherzer’s low changeup and again sent it into right field for an RBI single.

That clutch hitting — which in addition to Judge’s 47th home run of the year helped lead the Yankees to their second straight win — was enough for Scherzer to tip his cap to Benintendi once his outing was over. No, it wasn’t Judge’s exceptional ability to pulverize baseballs that altered Scherzer’s start. It was those darn Benintendi at-bats that flummoxed the three-time Cy Young winner.

“Thought I kept the ball down on Judge, but he put a better swing on it,” Scherzer said afterward. “But that’s not what lost the ballgame. It’s really the Benintendi at-bats. I had him in a two-strike situation, left the cutter over the plate instead of bearing it. 

“To me, I’m more frustrated with that pitch and execution. He was able to keep that fair. Then again, in his fourth at-bat, I thought I made a good pitch, but he put a better swing on a 1-0 changeup. I tip my hat to him.”

Benintendi didn’t even try to hide his smile when he was told of Scherzer’s big-time compliment. 

“It means a lot,” he said. “Obviously a Hall of Fame pitcher. He had my number. He’s a great pitcher, and he’s done a lot for the game — and still is.”

Benintendi was also a catalyst for the Yankees in their 4-2 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday, when he skied a tie-breaking, two-run home run in the seventh inning, giving the Bombers the lead for good. Then he picked up right where he left off, with his three RBIs and four runs scored a major reason the Yankees swept the Mets in the two-game Subway Series.

Three weeks after the trade deadline, Benintendi is beginning to look like the hitter the Yankees acquired. Five of his past 10 hits have gone for extra bases, including a home run and a triple. He’s unfazed and composed at the plate, even as the Yankees’ largest crowd of the year — 49,217 fans packed into the stadium — roared behind him on Tuesday.

During a rough start in his first week in pinstripes, going 1-for-23 with six strikeouts and eight walks while the Yankees began their surprising free fall, Benintendi was dealing with the weight and unknowns that accompany being traded to a playoff contender playing in the biggest media market in the sport.

“You’re all of a sudden dropped from a place that you’ve been in all year, or maybe been in several years, and now all of a sudden, you’re meeting new coaches and meeting new teammates,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “And where do I live, and how do I get to the ballpark? I’ve never been in a big city like this. I gotta get family members transferred. All these things come into play.”

While Benintendi doesn’t view the off-field peripherals as an excuse, he doesn’t deny that settling in with a new team was at least part of the reason for his initial struggles. At the time, Boone said he wasn’t too concerned about Benintendi because of his low-key attitude and successful track record. He was slashing .320/.387/.398 with a 124 OPS+ in an All-Star first half for the Royals, with a 110 wRC+ to boot.

Yankees trade for Andrew Benintendi

Ben Verlander discusses what the addition of Andrew Benintendi at the trade deadline means for the Yankees.

The Yankees acquired Benintendi essentially to replace Joey Gallo, whose high-strikeout and low-contact approach was doomed in New York. After a mediocre year with the Yankees, Gallo was traded to the Dodgers early this month, and Benintendi was plugged into the lineup as the every-day left fielder. During his early struggles, it was easy to believe the Yankees had traded for another Gallo who would wilt under the bright lights and pressure in New York.

But Benintendi’s hot stretch, which began during the Yankees’ trip to St. Louis, confirms that he was merely going through an adjustment period. Since Aug. 5, he is slashing .302/.362/.508 with a 150 wRC+ and looking more comfortable at the plate. Benintendi said the difference between that difficult stretch and his successful Subway Series was playing more games. The reps have allowed him to string better at-bats together while keeping a steady attitude.

“I try to stay even-keel no matter what,” he said Tuesday. “There’s only so much you can control. When you start worrying about all that other stuff, it tends to lead to a slump.”

That demeanor let Boone know that he didn’t need to check on Benintendi as much as he otherwise might for a trade-deadline pickup. The Yankees’ skipper kept his pep talks to a minimum. He mostly just reminded the lefty outfielder that the club knows what he’s capable of, and his teammates and coaches are excited to find out. There was no need for a dramatic summon to the manager’s office, Boone said. Benintendi turned it around before it got to that point. 

Now Benintendi, a 2018 champion with the Red Sox, is tasked with staying consistent at the plate and keeping the Yankees’ momentum going. He already sparked production during the three-game winning streak that is slowly drawing the Yankees out of their brutal August crash. Judge, after a nine-game homerless skid, is back to his baseball-clobbering ways. He could certainly use a collaborator at the top of the Yankees’ lineup to complement those homers. 

Judge told Benintendi as much after his go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday.

“He’s been big-time, especially these past three games, these past three wins,” Judge said. “Going back to Toronto, the two-run homer late against one of their better arms. It’s impressive what he does. I told him after that hit [Tuesday], ‘Hey, keep leading us. Keep being the guy that’s come up in big spots in the past in your career, in the playoffs, in big moments. Just keep doing your thing.'”

The way things are going, the Yankees will look forward to high-leverage situations continuing to find Benintendi at the plate.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for three-and-a-half seasons as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. She never misses a Rafael Nadal match, no matter what country or time zone he’s playing in. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.