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After only playing 14 games in 2020 due to injury, Andrew Benintendi joined the Kansas City Royals this season and is in the process of returning to his old self. While his batting average and slugging percentages remain above league average, he is having the worst offensive season of his career. For the first time of his career, his on-base percentage and wOBA are below league average.
Decreased Walk Rate
One reason why the on-base statistics are lower than usual for Benintendi is that he is not walking as much as has in the past. His walk rate is below average and is at a career low 6.5%. From 2016 through 2019, his walk rate was consistently above league average at around 10%.
One reason for a decrease in walk rate could be due to a shift in plate approach, but based on his plate discipline stats (swing rate, contact rate, etc) it does not seem like Benintendi has changed his approach. His swing rate is on the higher side at 52.5% on the year, but it was also high (51.4%) in 2019. His OPS in 2019 was above average at .774, so swinging more frequently did not hurt his production. While his .727 OPS this season is far from terrible, he can certainly perform better if he can improve his walk rate.
Benintendi’s chase rate, however, is on the higher side and is higher than league average at 29.6%. A good sign is that this higher chase rate is not leading to more strikeouts. Benintendi’s strikeout rate has remained better than league average at 20% and his whiff rate remains the same as the rest of his career.
So why isn’t Benintendi walking as much? It could be because he is seeing more pitches in-zone. His zone rate on the season is 51.5%, which is the highest of his career. To put it in perspective to the right of his career, the next highest zone rate Benintendi has experienced is 47.6%, which is almost 4% less frequently. Benintendi is a disciplined hitter. It’s possible that since he is seeing less balls overall, he is not having as many opportunities to walk as he did when he was with the Red Sox. [[ad:athena]]
Improved Quality of Contact
While he is not getting on base as frequently, Benintendi has improved his quality of contact, specifically his hard hit rate. At 44% of the time, Benintendi is hitting balls hard at a rate that exceeds any other season of his career, and 9% more frequently than league average. His barrel rate is also over 2% higher than league average.
Benintendi has power, and has hit 12 home runs so far this season. But similar to his slash line, he can and has performed better in the past. This is due in part to the change of scenery. Kauffman Stadium is more pitcher friendly than Fenway Park, meaning it is more difficult for hitters to get home runs. Using Baseball Savant’s expected home run tool, we can see that while Benintendi only has 12 home runs on the year, he was expected to have 16.
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What does this mean for Benintendi Moving Forward?
Benintendi is a quality hitter and while he hasn’t been walking as much this season, he has improved his quality of contact. Not only is Benintendi coming back from injury, he is also adjusting to a more pitcher friendly park. I believe that Benintendi has proven what he is capable of, and is a disciplined enough hitter to overcome the challenges he is facing this year to start putting up better numbers next season.
