KC Royals: How Andrew Benintendi became himself again

Andrew Benintendi was acquired by the KC Royals in a February 2021 three-team trade with the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox. For Benintendi, Boston received Franchy Cordero, Luis De La Rosa, and Grant Gambrell from the Royals, who also sent Khalil Lee to the Mets.

It’s been just over a year since the trade took place, but it will take much longer to determine how the prospects involved pan out in the major leagues.

What is clear, however, is that Benintendi is working out quite well for the Royals. And that’s a good thing, especially considering the downturn his career took before he left Boston.

At first glance, Benintendi seems to be a slightly better than league-average hitter (he posted a 106 wRC+ in 134 games last season). He won a Gold Glove in left field (his first) and seems to be pretty good at the plate even if a little streaky. Not a bad trade return, right?

Appreciating Andrew Benintendi’s value to the KC Royals requires a close look.

But a deeper look is necessary to determine just how good the Benintendi deal has been for the Royals. Important to understand is not only where Benintendi is now, but where he’s been and what has changed for him at the plate. He’s seen his fair share of extreme ups and extreme downs since starting his pro career as a top draft pick and quickly taking his place among the top prospects in the game, then exploding onto the major league scene.

To understand exactly what Benintendi has become for the Royals, it’s important to look at how he started.

KC Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi made it to the major leagues quickly.

Benintendi was drafted seventh overall by the Red Sox in the 2015 major league draft. He skyrocketed up various prospects lists and was mlb.com’s No.1 2017 preseason prospect. At that time, Fangraphs graded him a 65 future value; according to Fangraphs’ prospect scale, he was an elite hitter with above-average power, above-average fielding ability and above-average speed.

Before making it to the majors, Benintendi appeared in 151 minor league games over two seasons. He slashed .312/.392/.540 with 20 home runs, 26 stolen bases, and a walk rate north of 11%. Benintendi never struck out more than 12% of the time and never posted a wRC+ under 135.

That impressive minor league effort led to a call-up to the Sox directly from Double-A during the 2016 season. He stuck, playing 333 games for Boston from 2016-2018.

In that span, Benintendi slashed .282/.359/.447 with a 113 wRC+. He averaged just 18 home runs per season but hit 78 doubles while earning a 10.5% walk rate and just a 16.9% strikeout rate. He wasn’t a home run king but hit for average, had good doubles power, walked at a strong rate, and managed his strikeouts.

Benintendi looked like a superstar in the making at the end of 2018. He was just 24 and had capped off a special World Series run with the Red Sox; all that was left for him in Boston was to further develop his power and grow into his frame.

And his approach at the plate reflected an emphasis on power. Benintendi’s fairly open stance, big leg kick and upward swing angles looked to produce a higher launch angle and more power.

The quest for power would continue, which ultimately proved costly to the remainder of his production in Boston.

Did changes Andrew Benintendi made precipitate his trade to the KC Royals?

After 2018, things changed for Benintendi. He started to swing for less average, looking instead for more power, an approach Boston manager Alex Cora openly criticized after the Sox shipped Benintendi to Kansas City.

This new approach flew in the face of everything that had made Benintendi successful to that point. But by focusing more on launch angles and trying to hit home runs, he took away from the best part of his game as a hitter.

Benintendi would never go on to hit more homers than he had in his first full big league season—he hit 20 in 2017, which still stands as his career-high. Benintendi actually slugged at a lower rate in 2019 before his slugging absolutely plummeted in 2020. In 2019, he had a .774 OPS, the lowest of his career to that point. His average plummeted to just .266, also the lowest mark of his career to that point. By focusing more on power and launch angle, Benintendi had lost what made him so dangerous at the plate: his ability to hit for average and be selective.

The struggles were even worse in 2020, although over a sample size of just 14 games. Benintendi suffered a rib injury which ended an already shortened season. He slashed just .103/.314/.128 with a 43 wRC+.

It seemed Benintendi’s status as a future superstar was becoming a distant memory.

The trade to the Royals appears to have changed Andrew Benintendi’s career.

Benintendi came to Kansas City in 2021—the Royals bought low on the former prospective superstar hoping he’d rediscover his former glory and fill the void left by retired left fielder Alex Gordon. Perhaps the best foreshadowing of Benintendi’s future success was Kauffman Stadium itself, which doesn’t offer many easy home runs and, like Dodger Stadium, is made for contact hitters, not sluggers.

The only way for Benintendi to find success with the Royals was to get back to his roots, to focus once again on his excellent hit tool. No longer would he need to focus so much on launch angles or try to hit more home runs.

The results in his first season with Kansas City were telling. Benintendi’s walks were down (just a 6% walk rate), but so were the strikeouts. He fanned just 18% of the time and slashed .276/.324/.442. Of 46 extra-base hits, 27 were doubles as Benintendi posted a 106 wRC+. It was Benintendi’s best season since the 2018 World Series campaign.

What helped the change? Take a look:

The open stance is gone and with it the high leg kick. Kansas City may have changed Benintendi’s approach at the plate, but not Benintendi. He’ll still lift baseballs aplenty, but that won’t be his focus. He’s himself once again and it’s paying big dividends for everyone.