Andrew Benintendi's recent hot streak is helping the White Sox weather the loss of Munetaka Murakami and stay in the playoff race.
It's undeniable that the "next man up" mentality has contributed significantly to the early success of the Chicago White Sox in 2026. Part of the reason the White Sox are currently sitting at 34-30 and holding a playoff spot in the American League is because of the unsung heroes who have stepped up throughout the roster.
Sure, the White Sox have star power. They have a handful of players making legitimate cases for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. But in order to withstand the ups and downs of a 162-game regular season, you need depth, team chemistry, and the right guys stepping up in the right spots.
Now, of course, this applies to the key contributors who seemingly came out of nowhere. Tristan Peters was a surprise selection for Chicago's Opening Day roster, and he currently has a .300 batting average, .788 OPS, while top five on the team in fWAR at 1.7. Peters is legitimately in Rookie of the Year and All-Star conversations here in the month of June. Who would have thought?
Randal Grichuk is another guy on the list. Grichuk was let go by the Yankees after 16 rough games, and in 24 games with the White Sox since signing an MLB deal, he has six home runs and a 1.007 OPS. The veteran presence and pop he has brought against left-handed pitching have helped stabilize a White Sox outfield that has dealt with its fair share of injuries so far this year.
That's just the beginning. There are plenty more unexpected storylines that have put the White Sox where they are today. But one of the more significant ones we're seeing take shape right now is what Andrew Benintendi has done over the last few weeks.
When Munetaka Murakami went down with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, it felt like a dagger to the heart of any White Sox playoff hopes. It's simply hard to survive without your best hitter for over a month, especially when the talent disparity on paper between the White Sox and the rest of the AL contenders is significant.
The only way to survive that is by having everybody else step up. And while there's been a lot of attention on Miguel Vargas and even Colson Montgomery recently, Andrew Benintendi is not getting enough credit for the hitter he's been for Chicago.
Andrew Benintendi's Hot Streak
Since Murakami's injury, Benintendi has played in eight games and is batting .308 with a 1.112 OPS. He is 8-for-29 with three home runs and seven RBIs in that stretch and has come up with a number of big hits in big spots.
But let's take it back even further.
White Sox rookie Sam Antonacci is one of the more superstitious ballplayers around. He wears white tape on his helmet every day, which he believes brings him some extra offensive luck at the plate. Back on May 16, when Benintendi's OPS for the season had dipped to .604, Antonacci secretly placed white tape on Benintendi's helmet, only revealing it to him after Benintendi laced a double against the Cubs.
Since that day on May 16, Benintendi has kept the tape on his helmet. He's played in 17 games since then and has a .913 OPS with four doubles, four home runs, and 13 RBIs. The tape appears to be working.
Between that and Mike Vasil's magic wand from the dugout, the White Sox could superstition their way all the way to the playoffs.
For Benintendi, it's truly been a refreshing stretch of baseball.
It's no secret that he hasn't exactly lived up to the five-year, $75 million contract he received from the White Sox before the 2023 season. He has an OPS right around .700 in a White Sox uniform over 459 games played. And while we've seen some flashes of power with back-to-back 20-home run seasons in 2024 and 2025, we haven't seen Benintendi anchor the White Sox lineup the way they paid him to.
It's been a different story over the last few weeks, and even if we can't expect Benintendi to maintain this level of production for the entirety of the 2026 season, even stretches of dominance where he can make up for players lost to injury could be all Chicago needs.
Benintendi is currently on pace for 75 RBIs in 2026, which would be the most he's had since 2018. And he couldn't have picked a better year for it.
If there's one season in which the White Sox need Benintendi's best, it's 2026, when they have legitimate potential and upside. And if there's one stretch where they need him playing his best, it's right now, with Murakami on the injured list and a difficult section of the schedule ongoing.
