Top 30 MLB breakout stars in 2017

Boston Red Sox

2017 MLB Breakout Pick: LF Andrew Benintendi

It’s not usually a great idea to tab a rookie as a breakout performer. It usually takes time for a player to adjust to life in the big leagues, no matter how talented he is. Hitters especially experience growing pains when adjusting to seeing the best pitchers on the planet day in and day out.

Nevertheless, like last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, who finished third in the MVP vote, Red Sox top prospect Andrew Benintendi is capable of big things in 2017.

Benintendi saw his first major league action on August 2 last season, and quickly became the every day left fielder in Boston. A sweet-swinging left-handed hitter, Benintendi hit .295/.359/.476 primarily out of the No. 9 hole in the lineup. He hit two home runs, drove in 14 runs and scored 16. Though he was just 21, Benintendi also wasn’t intimidated in the postseason, and went 3-for-9 with a home run in three games against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS.

It would be silly to expect Benintendi to have as big an impact in his first full major league season as Seager did. However, there is plenty of reason to expect him to be a heavily relied upon piece of the Red Sox lineup in 2017. After all, the club must replace legendary DH David Ortiz, and will need run producers if it hopes to repeat as the top scoring team in baseball.

In fact, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com, it might be Benintendi that slides into the three hole in the Boston batting order that Ortiz manned down the stretch for the Red Sox last season. If he does hit third, as a rookie with heavy hitters like Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroria hitting around him, Benintendi should see plenty of good pitches to hit.

Another Name to Know: 1B Mitch Moreland

One More for the Future: RP Joe Kelly