Andrew Benintendi may be entering the second year of a deal that made him the highest-paid free agent in White Sox history, but he says he isn’t feeling any pressure.
The 29-year-old outfielder inked a five-year deal worth $75 million last offseason, making him the highest-paid player in franchise history. That label comes with added expectations, even if said contract only makes him the 79th highest-paid player in the MLB.
Benintendi was brought in to help solidify the team’s outfield defense and keep the line moving at the top of the order. He failed to do either in year one of his deal. When asked if he felt any pressure stemming from the contract, Benintendi brushed the notion aside.
“No, I don’t think for me at all,” Benintendi told CHGO’s Vinne Duber earlier this week. “In the end, say I don’t play well but we win, that’s all that matters. When you win, no one really questions anything about personal stuff.”
Benintendi was hindered by a hand injury in 2023. He focused on getting stronger this winter.
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) February 20, 2024
“Added a little bit of weight. I think this was one of my best offseasons, as far as working out and getting stronger. We’ll see how it translates, hopefully it does. Time will tell.”
Benintendi is coming off a disappointing season where he hit .262 with just five home runs, 45 RBIs, and a .682 OPS. It marked his lowest batting average of his career outside of the 2020 season when he hit .103 in 14 games.
He was able to limit his strikeouts. His 14.3 strikeout percentage ranked amongst the league’s top nine percent of all hitters. He only struck out 89 times and had a low whiff rate of 19.3 percent which also ranked in the league’s 83rd percentile according to Baseball Savant. However, despite his plate discipline he only produced a .326 OPB which was the third-lowest mark of his eight-year career. Sadly a .326 OBP was enough to lead the team, which highlights a much bigger issue about the White Sox inability to draw walks.
When Benintendi did put the ball in play he did not hit it very hard. The three stats a hitter can control are his barrel percentage, hard hit percentage, and chase rate. Beintendi’s hard-hit percentage was one of the worst in the league at 27 percent. His barrel percentage was even worse at 2.9 percent. Both placed Benintendi amongst the league’s bottom five percentile.
His average exit velocity was just 86.6 mph which also placed him in the league’s bottom tenth percentile. Because of this, his Expected Weighted On-Base Average was just .309 which placed him in the bottom third of all qualified MLB hitters.
All of this came despite the fact he carried a respectable 26.6 percent chase rate. Interestingly enough one of the few things he did improve this season was his launch angle. But despite the improved launch angle and a hitter-friendly home ballpark his power numbers were down. He produced a lackluster .370 Expected Slugging Percentage which once again was one of the worst in the league.
While the offensive side left much to be desired he was even worse on the defensive end. It was hard to tell that he was a former Gold Glove winner when watching his body of work in a White Sox uniform. Benintendi had an OAA, which measures a player’s range, of -10. This placed him in the league’s second percentile. He also ranked in the second percentile with an Arm Value of -4. Runners who tried to take an extra base on him were safe 97 percent of the time. He also committed four errors which was his highest total since 2017.
For a team that did not have a true right fielder for the majority of the season, his deficiency in left field was a major hindrance on the defense. Luis Robert Jr. was unable to shade closer to the right side because Benintendi was struggling to field his position.
Benintendi does deserve credit for being able to stay on the field. He played in 151 games which was the second most on the team behind only Andrew Vaughn. This was especially impressive after he revealed that he was dealing with a nagging hand injury throughout the year. Because of this, his offseason plan centered around bulking up in the weight room.
“Added a little bit of weight,” Benintendi said. “I think this was one of my best offseason as far as working out and getting stronger. We’ll see how it translates, hopefully it does. Time will tell.”
We already know the Sox are not going to win much. So, I respectfully disagree.
Pressure is on to play up to your highest paid contract status.