NEW YORK — White Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi found himself in an advantageous situation in the fourth inning Monday.
The Sox had a prime opportunity to break a scoreless tie with runners on second and third and no outs.
Benintendi hit a well-struck ball to left field for a sacrifice fly to score the Sox’ only run in a 2-1 loss to the Mets. With hitters in front of him getting on base at a higher rate, Benintendi likely will have more such chances.
The Sox need Benintendi to resemble the hitter he was toward the end of last season, when he batted .275/.346/.538 in his final 47 games. This season, he’s batting .224/.297/.685 in 28 games after going 1-for-2 with a walk.
Injuries have played a role in Benintendi’s struggles. He returned from the 10-day injured list Friday after missing 16 games with a strained left calf. Though he wasn’t enthused about it, Benintendi went on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. He also missed eight games with a strained left adductor, and a fractured hand cost him most of spring training.
“He always wants to be in there, where you have to maybe protect him from himself because he’ll play through anything,” manager Will Venable said. “And so I think that’s what we’ve seen where he’s back quickly — maybe too quickly at times — and he’s fallen into this little bit of a cycle where he’s been banged up.”
Benintendi hasn’t lived up to the club-record five-year, $75 million deal he signed in 2023 because of injuries and ineffectiveness.
“It’s frustrating,” Benintendi told the Sun-Times. “You prepare all offseason and go through spring and … starting with getting hit in the hand, it’s something you can’t control. It’s frustrating, and it seems like you’re always climbing back into it instead of just going out and playing all the time without worrying about anything. It’s good to hopefully get into a rhythm here and over the next week.”
With fellow veterans Josh Rojas and Mike Tauchman also back from injuries and Miguel Vargas having a sensational stretch, the Sox hope their offense gets a jolt. The group already is having an effect. In the Sox’ previous four games, they were hitting .281/.342/.518 with seven home runs.
“[The veteran bats] lengthen our lineup and put more pressure on the pitcher throughout the game,” Venable said. “Adding that quality to the lineup has made an impact for sure.”
Little has gone right for Benintendi since joining the Sox. He has seen his numbers plummet while the downtrodden franchise racks up losses. Entering Monday, Benintendi had a minus-0.2 WAR in 313 games with the Sox, according to Baseball-Reference.
With the lineup mostly healthy, the Sox need Benintendi to find his way at the plate.
“You got [Chase Meidroth] and [Tauchman] setting the tone at the top, and it makes my job easy,” Benintendi said. “It’s a pretty deep lineup, so it’s good to get everybody back.”