MIAMI — Andrew Benintendi found himself in acres of space Monday night, patrolling one of the largest outfield expanses the Red Sox will see this season.
Marlins Park is a far cry from the tight dimensions of home, with its colorful home run sculpture and downscaled version of The Clevelander, the South Beach nightclub and hotel, sitting beyond the left-field fence. That was Benintendi’s backdrop for the opener of the two-game series, a [...]
MIAMI — Andrew Benintendi found himself in acres of space Monday night, patrolling one of the largest outfield expanses the Red Sox will see this season.
Marlins Park is a far cry from the tight dimensions of home, with its colorful home run sculpture and downscaled version of The Clevelander, the South Beach nightclub and hotel, sitting beyond the left-field fence. That was Benintendi’s backdrop for the opener of the two-game series, a far cry from the drab confines of Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field or the towering Green Monster at Fenway Park.
“Maybe if a ball’s hit in the gap you take a deeper route to it, because it’s a bigger ballpark,” Benintendi said. “At Fenway, you know it’s not going very far, so you can take a sharper angle. That definitely factors into it.”
All three Boston starters ranked inside the top 30 in UZR among outfielders last season, a metric used to determine just how much better than average a given player is defensively. Mookie Betts led the big leagues by a considerable margin and Jackie Bradley Jr. ranked inside the top 20. Benintendi slipped just inside the top half of the 56 regulars ranked by FanGraphs, sitting 28th.
“If it’s like Yankee Stadium it’s going to be pretty big,” Benintendi said. “Maybe take a step back. You know you’ve got to back up more — especially for Jackie, because he’s in center.”
According to ESPN’s Park Factor scale, Marlins Park was the sixth-toughest place to homer in the big leagues in 2017. Fenway Park — due to the 37-foot wall and considerable distance to the triangle in right center — checked in fifth while San Francisco’s AT&T Park was the toughest place to go deep.
Benintendi returned in place of J.D. Martinez, a Miami native who enjoyed his first night off of the season. Martinez played left field in each of the final two games of the series against Tampa Bay and is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday. Blake Swihart served as the designated hitter in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Rays, collecting a walk and a single in his 2018 debut.
“He can visit his family down there and hang out,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “With Blake, we found a spot for him. That’s good.”
Failing to capitalize
Boston’s hitters went just 6-for-36 with runners in scoring position during the opening series of the season, with Rafael Devers accounting for half of its hits.
The third baseman drove in the lone run with a single in Friday’s 1-0 victory and also plated the winning run on Sunday with a lined single to right. Mitch Moreland, Brock Holt, Christian Vazquez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Sandy Leon and Benintendi were a combined 0-for-15 in similar situations against Tampa Bay.
“We squared some balls up,” Cora said. “We should have scored some more runs. As long as the defense is there and we make the plays, we can hang in close games, and we’re going to be able to win them.”
Vazquez hit a sharp grounder to second to leave a pair in the fifth inning on Sunday, with Joey Wendle making a fine diving play to his left. Martinez was robbed of an RBI the next inning when his sinking liner to left was snagged by a diving Mallex Smith, stranding two more.
Around the horn
Pitchers Eduardo Rodriguez (right knee) and Drew Pomeranz (flexor strain) remain scheduled for rehab outings over the next two days in Fort Myers. Cora said both would likely need to make at least one start with a minor-league affiliate before being activated from the disabled list, and a warm-weather climate like those available at Single-A Salem (Virginia) or Greenville (South Carolina) could be preferable … Steven Wright (left knee) threw a bullpen session on Monday at Fort Myers as he continues to make progress in his own rehab … Miami part owner and CEO Derek Jeter welcomed longtime New York Yankees teammate Jorge Posada and Red Sox legend David Ortiz as his guests Monday night. The three sat together in the second row of box seats behind the Marlins’ on-deck circle.
-- bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25