Here’s why Andrew Benintendi was sidelined as Kansas City Royals attempted late rally
As the Kansas City Royals attempted to mount a late rally against the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon, they were forced to do so without Andrew Benintendi.
Their hottest hitter and Gold Glove defender came out of the game at the start of the ninth inning after striking out swinging in the eighth. Benintendi left the game with tightness in his calf after fouling a ball off his leg earlier in the game.
Hunter Dozier moved from right field to left field to take Benintendi’s place. Whit Merrifield went from second base to right field. Nicky Lopez, who pinch-ran for designated hitter Salvador Perez, went to second and the Royals lost the designated hitter for the rest of the game.
“The foul ball off his calf kept him from being able to really go full-speed,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of removing Benintendi. “We thought it would loosen up, but it kept tightening up.”
Benintendi fouled a sinking fastball off his calf in the sixth-inning at-bat against Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez. The left-hander threw Benintendi, a left-handed hitter, a healthy dose of those 94-95 mph sinkers throughout the game.
Benintendi remained in the game, hoping that as he moved around the tightness he felt in his calf would loosen up. That wasn’t the case.
He played the field in the seventh and eighth innings, but a ball was not hit to him in the field. He batted in the eighth, but knew he might have had trouble on the bases.
“It just started getting tighter and tighter,” Benintendi said. “I felt that after my at-bat if I got on there, I couldn’t run — especially in a tight ballgame. I took my at-bat and then (Matheny) came down and said that they got me, so I was out.”
Benintendi, who can become a free agent after this season, earned the club’s player of the month honor for May. He batted .300 and led the club in walks (14) and multi-hit games (nine) for the month.
Through 52 games this season, Benintendi has batted .321 with a .384 on-base percentage, 62 hits, 21 RBIs, 17 runs scored and a .799 OPS. He entered Sunday’s game with the fourth-most hits in the AL and ranked among the league leaders in batting average (seventh, .328) and on-base percentage (eighth, .392).
Benintendi said the calf issue didn’t require any imaging by the medical team — just treatment after the game. He expressed optimism that it wouldn’t linger.
“We’ll see how it feels tomorrow,” Benintendi said. “If it feels good, I’ll be in there.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 7:02 PM.
