Red Sox pick Benintendi wins Golden Spikes

Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi broke out during his sophomore year with the Razorbacks and has been rewarded in a number of ways, most famously by being selected seventh overall in this month's Draft by the Red Sox. He added a pretty big piece of hardware to his set of rewards Tuesday night.

Benintendi was named the 2015 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award winner, given to the top amateur baseball player in the country. He beat out three fellow finalists, each of whom were also top picks in this year's Draft: Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson (first overall, D-backs), LSU shortstop Alex Bregman (second overall, Astros) and Vanderbilt right-handed pitcher Carson Fulmer (eighth overall, White Sox). 

The left-handed-hitting center fielder, who is the first Arkansas player to ever win the Golden Spikes Award, shot up Draft boards this spring after a big-time breakout second season. He led the SEC in all three slash line categories (.376/.488/.717) and was tops in the entire country with 20 home runs. With 24 stolen bases to his name as well, he was Division I's only 20-20 player during the 2015 season. All of those numbers also helped Benintendi capture the Dick Howser Trophy, Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year, Baseball America National Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year honors earlier this summer.

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That's all the more impressive given the jump he took from a comparatively unspectacular first collegiate season. He hit .276/.333/.368 with only one homer and 17 steals in 2014 as a freshman. By all accounts, he became much stronger heading into 2015, and the result was a double-digit increase in homers. During its coverage leading into the Draft, MLB.com pushed Benintendi -- a 31st-round pick by the Reds in 2013 -- to No. 8 in its rankings, giving him plus grades for his hit, run and fielding tools. The Red Sox nabbed him with the seventh overall pick and sang his praises soon after.

"Obviously he took a big jump this year," Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told MLB.com after the first round. "Despite only two years of college baseball, there's quite a bit of history that we have with him going back to high school, and he's someone who's always played at the highest level of competition that's been available to him, whether it's been in high school or college.

"Put that together with his performance and his physical skills and getting to know him as a person, as we were able to do this spring, when it got time to our pick at 7, he was the top player on the board, and it was obvious who we were taking. We're really excited to take him."

Benintendi, who was Draft eligible as a sophomore because he turns 21 on July 6 (within the 45-day limit following the Draft), has yet to sign with the Red Sox, although that is expected to come at some point soon. Once that happens, he's likely ticketed for Class A Short Season Lowell for his pro debut.

He joins Astros No. 12 prospect A.J. Reed (2014), Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant (2013), Mariners catcher Mike Zunino (2012), Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper (2010) as Golden Spikes winners this decade. In an interesting Red Sox-related twist, Benintendi is the first full-time outfielder to win the award since former one-time Sox slugger J.D. Drew in 1997. The first outfielder to win the award was Indians manager Terry Francona (1980), who won two World Series as Boston's skipper.