'Got a good group': Benintendi sees promise in South Siders' present

CHICAGO -- The first rule of White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi hitting the ball hard consistently is don’t ask Benintendi too often about hitting the ball hard.

“When things go well, I don’t like to talk about it,” a smiling Benintendi told MLB.com prior to a 7-3 victory Wednesday afternoon over the Diamondbacks, ending a six-game home losing streak for the White Sox (26-55).

“I seemed to be getting pitched soft away a lot,” Benintendi added. “Just trying to hit my pitch. I’m just trying to take what they give me.”

Beintendi connected on a 0-2 four-seam fastball from Zac Gallen, up and well out of the zone, for his ninth home run, cutting a 2-0 deficit in half in the first inning. That blast was his 34th with the White Sox in 339 games covering three seasons since Benintendi agreed to a five-year, $75 million free-agent deal on Jan. 13, 2023, making him the highest paid player in franchise history (based on aggregate salary).

Upon joining the White Sox, Benintendi was under the premise of contending for an American League Central title, at the very least after they reached the playoffs in 2020 and 2021 and finished at .500 in ‘22. That plan changed in-season to rebuild mode during the first of what could be three straight 100-loss campaigns.

Facing a rebuild is not exactly the optimal resolution for a 30-year-old veteran who played an integral part within the 2018 Red Sox World Series championship. Benintendi feels like each of his three White Sox years has been a completely different team to go along with numerous staff changes.

“When I signed here, it was some big names and then it seemed like at the Deadline that year, they got rid of everybody,” Benintendi said. “Obviously we are in a rebuild, so when that happens, it kind of stinks because it feels like where I was in my career then, I want to be a part of a winning team and they make that move and it’s kind of disappointing. But it is what it is.

“Last year, going through the 121 losses, I think everybody had a terrible time. You try to have fun, but in the end it kind of sucks losing that many games. This year, there seems like there have been signs of improvement as far as talent coming in here and young guys kind of got their feet wet last year learning more and becoming better. It seems like it’s kind of creeping back to hopefully the future is going to be better.”

Their present was pretty good in Wednesday’s series finale.

Lenyn Sosa homered twice and drove in four, launching a two-run blast off Zac Gallen in the fourth to break a 2-2 deadlock. It was Sosa’s first career multihomer effort and the four RBIs represented a career-high.

“It's a big opportunity that the team is giving me just playing regularly in the Majors and I'm just trying to take advantage of it the most I can,” said Sosa, through interpreter Billy Russo. “I'm trying to make the adjustments every day to perform and to do my best."

Mike Tauchman and Kyle Teel added three hits apiece, while reliever Grant Taylor made his first multi-inning relief appearance, yielding one unearned run in two innings, striking out one and topping out at 100.7 mph, per Statcast. Taylor’s work supported starter Sean Burke, who fanned seven over five innings and allowed no earned runs (two unearned).

Rookies Teel, Taylor and Burke are part of the talent infusion giving the White Sox an energy boost and hope for the future. Having manager Will Venable in place to co-pilot this process with general manager Chris Getz and his staff also makes a major difference.

“He makes everything easy,” said Benintendi of Venable. “Having a guy like that who’s going to be here for a while, it only can help. Guys can build relationships with him and stuff like that.

“In the end, not to overstep anything, but teams that compete every year seem like they go out and spend. Homegrown talent can get you so far, but it seems like the last team to do that was the Red Sox in ’18 or the Royals.”

Personally, the overall results have not been what Benintendi had hoped. But he enjoys Chicago, enjoys his teammates and is ready for two more years with the White Sox, even if it’s still not quite prime contention.

“Energy has been great. Young guys bring it for sure,” Benintendi said. “The older guys kind of keep them in check a little bit. It's been good. Got a good group in here.”