Andrew Benintendi couldn’t hide it. As bad as he may be feeling from the strained right rib cage that’s put him on the injured list, it seemed to pale in comparison to the feeling of how it’s just added on to what’s already been a nightmare 2020 season for the Red Sox left fielder.
“I feel fine,” Benintendi said. “Just frustrated overall that this happened. I think frustrated would be the right word.”
As disappointing as his season has been, Benintendi felt like he had turned a corner in Tuesday’s night’s loss to the Rays, collecting a pair of hits — as many as he had in his first 36 at-bats of the season — in his first two at-bats of the night.
Then came the eighth inning. As he tried going from first to third on a hit by Alex Verdugo, Benintendi fell hard in between second and third before ultimately being tagged out. He felt immediate discomfort and had it checked out after the game, when the strained rib cage was revealed. Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said it’ll likely take longer than the 10-day injury list stint before Benintendi will return.
“It’s frustrating,” Benintendi said. “I got a few hits, I was feeling good, felt like I was about to get hot, so I mean, frustrated.”
Some optimism would suggest that this break could actually serve well for Benintendi, who was batting .103 before the fall, but he doesn’t see it that way.
“For me personally no,” Benintendi said. “I feel like mentally this whole time, I’ve been in a good spot. Obviously it would be easy to not be. I do come to the park every day excited to hopefully bust out of this little slump I’m in. So mentally I feel strong, so it sucks that this happens, but there’s nothing I can do now but get better quickly.”
The Red Sox could soon have some much-needed left-handed relief in their bullpen. Josh Taylor could be activated by the end of this weekend’s series against the Yankees in New York, according to Roenicke, and Darwinzon Hernandez will be some time after that. Both are returning after recovering from COVID-19.
Xander Bogaerts was taken out in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s loss, and wasn’t in the lineup to start Thursday’s series finale with the Rays, but Roenicke said the shortstop is just dealing with some fatigue in the lower half of his body. Bogaerts was available to pinch hit Thursday and is expected back Friday against the Yankees.
The Red Sox’ rotation for this weekend’s four-game series against the Yankees is not yet finalized. Nathan Eovaldi will start Saturday, but the rest of the games are to be determined.
The Red Sox on Thursday claimed infielder Christian Arroyo off waivers from the Indians, putting their 40-man roster at 40 and player pool at 60. Arroyo has made 71 major league appearances since being a first-round draft pick in 2013, and spent 2018 and 2019 with the Rays, so there’s a connection with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
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SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com