Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi will not return this season after being moved to the 45-day injured list Tuesday, manager Ron Roenicke said. Benintendi has been out since Aug. 12 with a strained right rib cage.

Roenicke and Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom spoke with Benintendi on Monday and determined that it didn’t make much sense for the Red Sox to rush the 26-year-old back to play meaningless games at the end of the month.

“(He) understood,” Roenicke said. “He didn’t really want to push things past where he could re-injure himself. In everybody’s opinion, we thought this was the best way to do it.

“There’s really not a reason to force him to get back to play at the end of the year, knowing that if you’re pushing him, you could cause something else to happen,” Roenicke said.

Benintendi appeared in 14 games before getting injured. He was 4 for  39 (.103 average) with just one extra-base hit. He had two hits in his final game Aug. 11 before falling on the basepaths and hurting his rib cage.

Benintendi regressed in 2019 and entered 2020 hoping to regain the form that led to a successful offensive season in 2018. Instead, this year will go down as a lost one for the former first-round pick.

“I thought he worked really hard in the offseason to get himself in shape and with his swing to where it would play out in a normal season. He showed that in the first spring training, he showed that in the next camp,” Roenicke said. “To be honest, I’m hoping he forgets about this season part and just remembers what he did in the training camps. I thought it was really good, I thought it was the way he needs to be. His swing was in a good spot. He was swinging for power, he was swinging for average and he was patient, not swinging for balls. I know things changed in this really unusual season. I’m hoping he can forget about that and really work hard in the offseason and get to the place he was coming into the first spring training this year.”

Benintendi is still under contract for two more seasons and – barring a trade – is expected to be in Boston’s starting outfield next spring. He’s due to earn $6.6 million in his penultimate season before being eligible for free agency.

“I know he was looking forward to having a good year this year after last season,” Roenicke said. “Hopefully, that’s just delayed and he’ll come out next year and play well.”

« Previous

Tom Caron: Seven-inning games could be just what baseball needs

Next »

Dalbec homers in both games of DH split, giving him a home run in 5 of his 9 career games