The Boston Red Sox made an intriguing trade to acquire Jake Bennett this offseason, and he’s already dazzling in camp.
Boston acquired Bennett from the Washington Nationals for Luis Perales in a rare prospect-for-prospect trade. At the time, many thought the Red Sox gave up the better prospect, but as Boston’s spring training opened up, Bennett impressed pitching coach Andrew Bailey.
“There’s a ton to dream on there,” said Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, via MassLive. “There are guys who were on our team last year asking, ‘Dude, who did we get him for?’ It’s like, ‘That was a crazy trade.’ And it is, it’s a really cool one.”
Although Bennett has impressed early in Red Sox camp, he’s unlikely to make the team out of spring training. Instead, the team will continue to stretch him out as a starter, as Bennett gives the Red Sox more starting pitching depth later on in the season.
Regardless of his role, Bailey is already impressed with Bennett’s game and believes there’s lots to build on throughout spring training for the big 6-foot-6 lefty.
“There’s a lot to love on Jake Bennett,” Bailey said. “Easy to work with, trained really hard in the offseason, put himself in a good spot. We’ll look to build the engine bigger and faster and stronger and there’s a lot of upside there. He’s a guy who flies through the zone, fills it up and we’ll build up the stuff a little bit.”
Bennett reached AA last season.
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