Andrew Benintendi is not just your average baller, the American professional baseball outfielder of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) is a man of many talents, as you would discover here. After an impressive college career for the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas, he was selected by the Red Sox in the first round of the MLB Draft 2015 and has remained loyal to the team to this day.
Andrew Benintendi’s Bio
Born Andrew Sebastian Benintendi on July 6, 1994, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the baller is the oldest of his parents’ three children and has two sisters, Olivia and Lily. His parents are Chris, a lawyer, and Jill, a housewife. His paternal grandparents, Robert, an OB-GYN, and Sally have emigrated from Sicily to the United States.
As a child his athletic talent was obvious. He danced, tried soccer and golf, but also basketball and baseball. This was not surprising, however, as he is an offshoot of high school and university athletes. His father played baseball while his mother sweated it out on the hardwood.
ALSO READ: Who is Granger Smith? His Wife, Age, Net Worth, Bio, Other Facts
Andrew Benintendi attended Madeira High School in Madeira, Ohio, where he set records that were not only better than those of other athletes but also unbeatable. He was on both the baseball and basketball teams. As a four-year starter on the university team in hoops, he broke records, and with 1,753 career points, he remains the best scorer in Madeira High School ever, leading the way in three-point scoring (180), points per game in a season (25.5), as well as in stealing and free throws. He was also named Cincinnati Enquirer Division III Co-Player of the Year 2011-12 in his junior year.
In baseball, he also holds Madeira’s single-season and career records for at-bats, hits, runs, doubles, home runs, and stolen bases, in addition to the school’s single-season batting average and the RBI titles he holds. With an Ohio record of 199 runs in his career, he hit .564 with 57 runs (RBIs), 12 home runs, and 38 stolen bases in his senior year. As a result, the praise and attention rolled in. Among them are the ABCA/Rawlings National High School Player of the Year and the Ohio Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.
Although he played the leading role in both arenas, Benintendi decided to focus on baseball as he realized that at 5’5″ (1.70 m) on the court he did not have the stature to get as far as he did on the Diamond. He was drafted out of high school by the Cincinnati Reds in the 31st round of the 2013 MLB draft, but he stuck with attending the University of Arkansas, and he didn’t want to give that up. So he didn’t sign up with the Reds but enrolled to play college baseball for the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team.
He started all but one game as a true rookie, hitting .276 with 45 runs, one home run, and 27 RBI. Although the statistics were not enough for someone who had taken a different course in his senior year, and his first injury and surgery just before he arrived in Arkansas may have contributed to this, he immediately set about improving his form and game. During the summer, he hit the ball in the gym, and that paid off enormously in terms of his ability to hit the ball harder.
In his sophomore year, he led the Southeastern Conference on the batting average (.380), home runs (19), on-base percentage (.489), slugging percentage (.715), and walks (47).
He was also named SEC Player of the Year, received Baseball America’s National Player of the Year and Collegiate Baseball’s Dick Howser Trophy, and USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award. In addition, he was considered one of the most promising candidates for the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, and despite these awards, he had his ultimate goal in mind – to play in the major leagues. And it didn’t take him long to do so.
Andrew Benintendi MLB Career and Salary
Andrew Benintendi was selected by the Boston Red Sox as the 7th overall choice in the first round of the 2015 design. After adding a $3.6 million signature bonus to the contract that made him a professional player on June 30, 2015, he made his debut with the Short-Season A Lowell Spinners three days later. He split the rest of the season between Lowell and Boston’s Low-A Greenville Drive before starting High-A Salem in 2016.
Over time, he made it to the Double-A level faster than any Boston contender since Dustin Pedroia in 2005, and on May 15, 2016, he was promoted to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs of the AA Eastern League class after completing a .341/.413/.563 slash line in 34 games with Salem.
With the Sea Dogs, Benintendi also made another important career decision by moving from midfield to left field. On August 2, 2016, the Red Sox organization proved their faith in the young baller by sending him from the Double-A directly to the big leagues. He made his debut the same day, just 421 days after his selection. The next day he scored his first major league goal, while both his first major league triple and his home run on August 21 ended in a 10-5 defeat to the Detroit Tigers. He ended the season with a batting average of 0.295, 31 goals, 14 RBIs, two home runs, and a steal in 34 games played.
In 2017, Andrew Benintendi began the season as part of the Red Sox’s opening roster. He finished second in the “American League Rookie of the Year” poll behind Aaron Judge, who won unanimously. At the end of the regular season, he calculated a batting average of 0.271 on 20 home runs and 90 RBIs in 151 games played.
In the first half of the 2018 season, Andrew was the team’s regular left fielder and usually finished second behind Mookie Betts. His recent playoffs in the 2018 MLB playoffs sealed the Red Sox’ victories in games 4 and 5 of the 2018 AL Championship Series.
He plays for an annual salary of $620,000. Andrew Benintendi has been more than impressive so far and is expected to climb the Major League ladder in the coming years.
ALSO READ: Who is Nicholas Hoult – Jennifer Lawrence’s Ex, Who is The Current Girlfriend?
Andrew Benintendi’s Wife or Girlfriend
This Red Sox outfielder may be a great pitcher and is quite eloquent, but he speaks as little as possible. So it becomes a challenge to gather information about his private life, e.g. who his girlfriend or possibly his wife is. Yet he does not hold back any words when talking about his family, only that he would say the same about his partner or himself.
As uncomfortable as the media are for him, his family is obviously important to him. They are the strength that makes him an athlete who can cope with failure as well as with success. There is much about them, but very little about his girlfriend.
Perhaps the support he received in a marriage proposal sometime in May 2018 further strengthened the suspicions about his relationship status. One thing remains certain, however: He is not yet married but has a girlfriend whose identity he has not yet revealed.
Andrew Benintendi Height & Weight
Benintendi may not have the prototypical frame for a power hitter, but his strong hands and wrists are proven to be effective when it comes to consistently hitting the ball back and forth. In addition, his strong arms generate the lightning-fast club speed that keeps his power coming.
He stands at a height of 5’10” (1.78 m) and weighs 170 lbs (77 kg).
