Andrew Benintendi was searching for answers at the plate.
Through his first 40 games, the White Sox outfielder was slashing just .227/.277/.375 with two home runs and struggling to find any consistency. But thanks to an unlikely fashion statement from a teammate, Benintendi’s bat has suddenly come to life.
There were plenty of questions surrounding the Chicago White Sox entering the season, but one assumption seemed safe. If they were going to outperform expectations, they would need their highest-paid player in franchise history to be a major offensive contributor.
Yet 49 games into the season, the White Sox offense has emerged as one of baseball’s biggest surprises despite receiving little production from Benintendi.
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A major reason for that success has been the club’s unexpected power surge. Entering Friday’s game against the San Fransico Giants, the White Sox rank third in the MLB with 68 home runs, fifth in slugging percentage (.405), and sixth in OPS (.735). This is in large part thanks to Munetak Murakami, Colson Montgomery, and Miguel Vargas combining for 41 homers, the most of any trio in baseball.
Despite his first three seasons in Chicago largely being viewed as disappointing, Benintendi has still shown flashes of power, belting 20 home runs in each of the past two seasons. If he can rediscover that form and provide consistent production in the middle of the order, an already potent White Sox lineup could become even more dangerous.
It appears rookie Sam Antonacci may have stumbled onto the solution to Benintendi’s struggles.
Antonacci began putting tape on the side of his helmet in early May, a superstition that dates back to his junior college playing days. He carried the tradition with him throughout the minor leagues, but when he received his first call-up to the majors, he ditched the tape because he worried it didn’t look “show” and made it appear as though the side of his helmet was broken.
But after joining a clubhouse that has embraced everything from magic wands to spark the offense, Antonacci decided to bring the tape back. Since then, he has emerged as one of the White Sox’s most consistent hitters, batting .294 with a .793 OPS through his first 102 major league at-bats.
After going hitless in his previous nine at-bats, Benintendi decided to try something different. Before a May 16 matchup against the Chicago Cubs, he borrowed Antonacci’s superstition and put tape on his helmet. Two at-bats later, he snapped his hitless streak by ripping a double to center field.
But Benintendi wasn’t done. In his next at-bat in the sixth inning, he crushed a Jameson Taillon fastball 406 feet to right field for his third home run of the season. The tape has remained on his helmet ever since.
Since adopting the superstition, Benintendi has gone 7-for-17 over his last five games with four RBIs, raising his batting average from .227 to .239 in the process. That stretch includes a three-hit performance with an RBI double in the series finale against the Cubs, as well as the go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning of the White Sox’s 2-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
While it’s impossible to know how long this hot streak will continue, several underlying indicators suggest Benintendi’s recent surge may be more than just a lucky stretch. Despite a slow start to the season, he has been consistently hitting the ball hard. His 48% hard-hit percentage is one of the best in baseball. His sweet spot percentage, which measures the ideal contact area on the bat, is even better, at 40%, in an era where the MLB average is closer to 30%.
Benintendi is still striking out at a high clip and not drawing many walks. But with results come confidence, and if a piece of tape is what he needs for it to grow, so be it.
