Frustrated Andrew Benintedi set for IL time away from Red Sox

BOSTON --- Andrew Benintendi’s frustrations were clear Thursday afternoon.

The Red Sox outfielder used some variation of that word four times during his pregame remarks. Benintendi met with the media one day after being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right rib cage.

"I feel fine," Benintendi said. "I’m frustrated overall that this happened. I think frustrated would be the right word."

Benintendi suffered the injury rounding [...]

BOSTON --- Andrew Benintendi’s frustrations were clear Thursday afternoon.

The Red Sox outfielder used some variation of that word four times during his pregame remarks. Benintendi met with the media one day after being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right rib cage.

"I feel fine," Benintendi said. "I’m frustrated overall that this happened. I think frustrated would be the right word."

Benintendi suffered the injury rounding second base in the eighth inning Tuesday night. He was coming from first on an Alex Verdugo single and attempted to pull up when the ball hit the wall fronting the field boxes along the line in left. Benintendi fell forward into the dirt and hit the ground again when he was tagged out by Brandon Lowe in the ensuing rundown.

"When I tripped going around second I landed pretty hard," Benintendi said. "There was some discomfort. I thought it would be best to have them take a look at it after the game."

Benintendi managed a pair of infield singles and was hit by a pitch in the 8-2 defeat, a productive offensive night all things considered. Benintendi’s 11 walks helped his salvage a .314 on-base percentage through 17 games, but he was just 4-for-39 at the plate.

"He’s going to be a while," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said Wednesday night. "It will probably be more than that 10 days we talked about."

Benintendi dismissed any benefit of a mental break from being sidelined. It’s just his second career stint on the injured list, the first since his debut season in 2016. Benintendi missed time that year with a left knee sprain but averaged nearly 146 games per season from 2017-19.

"I do come to the park every day excited to hopefully bust out of this thing – bust out of this little slump I’m in," Benintendi said. "Mentally I feel strong. It just sucks that this happens."

COVID-19 restrictions will prevent Benintendi from travelling with the club for its four-game series this weekend against the Yankees. He’ll report to Fenway Park and work with the remaining Boston medical staff to make his way back.

"Obviously I want to be with the guys and be around the team," Benintendi said. "Obviously this is a different scenario. Not much I can do."

bkoch@providencejournal.com

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