The label of highest-paid player in franchise history comes with the weight of expectations. Even if it only took $75 million over five years to do so. Andrew Benintendi entered Spring Training as the White Sox biggest offseason acquisition.
Despite having the richest contract in White Sox history, expectations were tempered. Benintendi’s power numbers had been lackluster over the past several years. He was mainly brought in to sure up the team’s outfield defense and keep the line moving at the top of the order. If Benintendi was able to do that the roughly $15 million he was getting paid each year would seem reasonable. He failed to do either of those things in year one of his deal.
Benintendi 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 in a White Sox offense that struggles 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. The former Gold Glove winner did not play the part 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. The 29-year-old 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 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. The only silver lining was that he was a better defender than Eloy Jimenez but that is setting the bar incredibly low.
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.
If the White Sox want to improve next season they need to get more production out of the top of their lineup. Benintendi had the second most at-bats on the team, despite statistically being one of the worst hitters in baseball. That cannot happen again next season if the White Sox have any hope of contending. If it does Benintendi is on track to become one of the worst free-agent signings in franchise history.
With the way he played in 2023, no MLB team is going to want to take on that contract. If the White Sox chose to go in another direction and rebuild, then they are still stuck with Benintendi through 2027.
