Andrew Benintendi will pay attention. The Yankees new outfielder denied experiences that he had talked with the workforce about his vaccination standing earlier than the take care of the Royals was finalized. Benintendi, who was one among 10 Royals gamers who couldn’t play towards the Blue Jays in Toronto as a result of they weren’t vaccinated towards the coronavirus, mentioned that his first day was nearly settling in and he’ll focus on his vaccination standing with the workforce quickly.
“Right now, I mean, I’m still positioned in the same spot. I’m open-minded about it. I’m not against it,” Benintendi mentioned earlier than Thursday night time’s sequence opener towards the Royals at Yankee Stadium. “Time will tell as we get closer. But now, I am just focused on getting here, getting comfortable getting to know the other guys and winning baseball games.”
Benintendi is the primary transfer in what the Yankees must do to start out profitable video games once more. They went into the four-game sequence with the Royals having misplaced 10 of their final 15 and 14-15 over their final 29.
They hope he will probably be an enormous a part of them clinching the American League East and attending to the World Series. That will embody a three-game sequence in Toronto on the finish of September and the potential for a playoff sequence there. Unvaccinated gamers are usually not allowed to journey into Canada. The Yankees have had their total roster with them of their two earlier stops.
“I have not yet,” Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned of discussing the vaccine with Benintendi. “We’ll cross that bridge if and when we have to, but I have not had the conversation.”
Instead, Boone was about shuffling his lineup and determining easy methods to use the All-Star.
Thursday night time, Benintendi led off and performed left subject. He went 0-for-4 within the Yankees’ 1-0 win over the Royals at Yankee Stadium.
“A guy that’s championship battle tested, he obviously played a key part in the Red Sox run in ‘18. He was a key figure for them,” Boone mentioned. “He’s having an All Stars caliber season. A guy that gets on base, great bat to ball skills. Good defender in left field. I’m really excited to add him to the mix. I think he makes us more versatile, gives us some more balance. I think he can hit a lot of different places in our lineup. I think he’s got a chance to be a great fit for us.”
The lefty-hitting outfielder is a extra full participant than Joey Gallo, who the Yankees acquired eventually commerce deadline. Over a full 12 months, that transfer championed by the analytics division for his energy and on-base share, has confirmed to be a mistake. In 138 video games, Gallo has hit .160/.293/371 with 25 residence runs and a .664 OPS. In 498 plate appearances, Gallo has 77 walks and has struck out 191 instances.
Gallo was within the lineup Thursday night time, however the Yankees have been procuring him to attempt to offload him earlier than the Tuesday MLB, 6 p.m. commerce deadline. Boone mentioned that he has been open and trustworthy with Gallo because the deal occurred, however that’s a part of the sport.
Moving ahead, Benintendi will predominantly play in left subject with Judge enjoying in proper subject extra down the stretch. Aaron Hicks was in middle subject Thursday night time and will see extra shifts there as Judge performs extra in proper subject, however his enjoying time is also affected when Giancarlo Stanton, on the injured listing with left Achilles tendinitis, returns.
“So we’ll just see, again, there’ll be some competition for playing time and things like that, but we’ll try and put everyone in the best possible position to give us a good chance every night,” Boone mentioned.
Benintendi provides the Yankees a greater shot offensively than the immediately restricted Gallo. He is available in hitting .320/.387/.398 with three homers and 39 RBI in 93 video games this season with the Royals. A contact, lefty-bat, Benintendi may up these energy numbers with the quick right-field porch at Yankee Stadium. He has seven profession homers at Yankee Stadium in 38 video games right here with the Royals and Red Sox.
Benintendi mentioned he’ll depend on his expertise right here as a Red Sox, however after a season and a half with the Royals, nevertheless, Benintendi’s swing is a bit completely different.
“I think playing in Boston has prepared me for this atmosphere and, obviously, I have played a lot of games here. So I’m looking forward to getting back out there and playing on the other side,” Benintendi mentioned. “As far as my swing, Kauffman Stadium is pretty big, a big stadium and for a guy like me, it’s tough to run one out of there. So really just focus on hitting more line drives, getting on base and just just taking what they give me.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com