BOSTON — It sure sounds like Andrew Benintendi won’t be the only hot Double-A Portland prospect to make his Major League Baseball debut for the Red Sox this season.
With MLB rosters expanding to 40 players on Sept. 1, the buzz in Boston has centered around Yoan Moncada, the team’s highly touted infield prospect who is hitting .285 with 11 home runs and a .935 OPS at the Double-A level.
Manager John Farrell occasionally has mentioned the possibility of the Red Sox recalling Moncada, who recently transitioned to third base, but ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, he gave his strongest endorsement yet.
“We’ve talked about Yoan, and not just as a pinch-runner,” Farrell said. “(He’s) an exciting young player, extremely talented guy. There’s all positive reviews and evaluations of him. When that major league experience is going to initiate, time with tell that. But in terms of playing the position of third base, yes, that conversation has been had.”
Of course, Boston doesn’t want to bring up Moncada just to sit him on the bench — a concern president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski expressed Monday. But there might be an opening at third base given the recent struggles of Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill, and either way, Farrell believes there’s not much to lose in bringing the young prospect into a big league clubhouse.
“This is a different scenario if it was July or the first of August, where you’ve got an alternate location to play,” Farrell said. “Minor league season ends, so is there a benefit for him just being here? Yes. Do you weight playing X number of games a week versus what he could be doing in Pawtucket? Well, that goes away. By all accounts, there is nothing but positive by the experience here, if that was to happen.”
There’s a precedent for Moncada’s potential call-up, as Xander Bogaerts made his MLB debut in August 2013. Bogaerts hit just .250 in limited action, but he gained valuable experience and played a contributing role during the Red Sox’s World Series run.
Could Moncada provide that same late-season spark, much in the way Benintendi was doing this season before he went down with an injury?
“The one thing for those who have been around this team for a number of years, teams that have had success have always had an injection of young players late in the season that have helped carry the team to the postseason,” Farrell said. “I think Yoan would be in a similar category for when (Dustin Pedroia) and (Jacoby Ellsbury) came to the big leagues; when Bogey came to the big leagues. And Benintendi is obviously already here. I wouldn’t separate him out from that comparison at all. In fact, he’s a direct comparison.”
Farrell said no official decision has been made on Boston’s call-ups, but it appears Moncada in a Red Sox uniform is a very real possibility.
“Without saying it’s a definite, there’s a lot going for it,” Farrell said.
Thumbnail photo via Gary A. Vazquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
