When Andrew Benintendi showed up to Spring Training this year, there was something slightly different about his at-bats, unfamiliar to those who watched him as a Royal in 2021 but familiar to those who followed his career in Boston.

His stance featured a leg kick again.

Fine-tuning a baseball swing can be an intricate process and at times overwhelming, with so much information and data available to hitters in different messages. Benintendi originally went away from the leg kick to simplify his stance.

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Sometimes, it’s better to just go back to what’s worked in the past. That’s what Benintendi did over the offseason.

"It’s always been more comfortable for me, and when Spring Training came, I thought I could see the ball better, see the spin better," Benintendi said. "I think it’s what keeps me on top of the baseball, to where before I was kind of stepping toward it. It looked like I was going up to the ball instead of down to it. That’s when I realized I might need to go back to the leg kick, and then I just stuck with it."

It's hard to argue with the results the Royals’ left fielder has seen this year -- the same results that have him in Los Angeles this week as Kansas City’s All-Star Game representative. Benintendi is slashing .317/.386/.401 with 37 RBIs, and his 102 hits ranks fifth in the American League.

That production is a far cry from the end of 2019 and '20, when Benintendi was riddled with injuries with the Red Sox. Benintendi slashed .136/.276/.191 with a 33 wRC+ from Aug. 30, 2019, until the end of 2020, as he fought through an oblique injury and a right rib strain throughout that time.

After the 2020 season, the Royals acquired Benintendi from the Red Sox and believed there was plenty of offensive upside.

"What sticks out in my head was when he made the comment when he first got here, ‘I got away from who I was,'" manager Mike Matheny said.

Benintendi’s search for answers about his swing was just beginning. It started with realizing he was trying for power too often, lifting the ball instead of spraying line drives from gap-to-gap.

Benintendi got away from his comfortable swing mechanics, and reworking those habits took time. He made strides in ’21 but not completely what he wanted. As the ’22 season began, he felt better not only in approach, but also in his mechanics.

"He just made his mind up, 'I’m not that player. This is what I need to be,'" Matheny said. "It’s easy to talk about. It started in spring ‘21, and he was aware that it was going to take some time. We’ve seen some of that incremental growth. We saw some spurts last year, saw it head in that direction. And then it’s like, 'OK, I got that feeling back to who I know I am as a hitter.'"

Not only is Benintendi putting together his best year since 2018, he’s doing it in a season when the distractions have never been greater. It’s a contract year for the 28-year-old. He had to go through an arbitration case in May, which he won against the Royals for an $8.5 million salary.

And as the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline creeps closer, Benintendi is one of the more sought-after hitters for contending teams. His name swirls around trade rumors daily, although after he was placed on the restricted list ahead of the Royals’ trip to Toronto because he is unvaccinated -- he stated it was “a personal decision” not to be vaccinated -- sources have indicated that the mix of teams interested in acquiring him have changed.

"Before, I may have read into a lot of stuff going on right now and seen it get into my head," Benintendi said. "But right now, I’m just comfortable with who I am, I guess, and I just don’t pay attention to everything else at all. Whatever happens, happens. I’ve been around for a little bit now, so I know how it all goes, I’m older now, I just have realized it’ll all play out. My job is to control what I do on the field."

Benintendi knew the swing changes he set out to make between the 2020 and ’21 seasons wouldn’t happen overnight or even over the course of one season. But the patience and diligence have paid off, sending him to Hollywood this week.