Just as it looked like Andrew Benintendi was building momentum this spring, another minor injury popped up — and Chicago White Sox fans have seen this pattern before.
On February 27, 2025, Chicago White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi was hit by a pitch during a spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians and suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right hand. The team later announced he would miss four to six weeks, effectively sidelining him for the rest of spring training and possibly into the early regular season.
When it was all said and done, Benintendi was able to suit up for the White Sox on Opening Day, and he got off to a decent start through nine games before landing on the injured list with a left adductor strain.
Upon his return from the IL, he struggled mightily, playing in 15 games and batting .185 before going back on the injured list — this time with a left calf strain.
And that right there highlights what has plagued Benintendi in recent years.
He’s rediscovered some of his power with the White Sox, hitting 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons. Even his .738 OPS in 2025 was serviceable. But as he gets older — now 31 and turning 32 in July — Benintendi always seems to have an injury set him back just as he’s gaining momentum.
It happened again this week.
In three spring training appearances so far, Benintendi is 3-for-7 with two doubles and an OPS of 1.143. There has been plenty of talk this spring about him feeling healthier in 2026 and looking forward to playing left field every day for the White Sox and contributing to this young, ascending team.
I think I even started to believe it.
And then on February 27 — exactly one year after he was hit by a pitch and broke his right hand in a spring training game — the White Sox scratched Benintendi from their Cactus League lineup due to right-side soreness.
The team currently lists him as day-to-day and has not specified a particular injury, such as an oblique issue, but this feels awfully similar to what happened with outfielder Everson Pereira before the Cactus League opener against the Chicago Cubs.
And here we are, more than a week later, with Pereira still yet to make his spring training debut.
It’s less about whether Benintendi will be ready for Opening Day. I do think, when it’s all said and done, this injury could hold him out for a week or two, but he’ll eventually return and be ready for the opener.
To me, it’s more about what this signals is coming down the line.
This is always how it goes with Benintendi. One minor injury causes him to miss some time. That injury leads to more minor issues, his body not being at 100 percent. And as that happens — as the season wears on — his production fails to live up to expectations.
When Andrew Benintendi is fully healthy and feeling his best, I do believe he’s still a valuable player. He can be serviceable — even if not average — defensively in left field and provide well above-average offense to the lineup.
But moments when Benintendi is feeling and playing at 100 percent are few and far between these days. And it’s frustrating to see, time and time again, him fail to build any real momentum.
Benintendi will be a player to monitor as the rest of spring training plays out. It’s not necessarily about whether he’s on the field or whether he makes the team, but rather how he looks when he inevitably returns — and whether he’s still as confident as he was before this latest minor setback.