Farrell requests Red Sox beef up batting order

The Boston Red Sox have a shot this year, and John Farrell knows it.

A week after the front office admitted to looking to trade for pitching, the manager had a meeting with president Dave Dombrowski, requesting that brass work to upgrade their thin bench, and maybe even add a big left-handed bat.

"How do we get a little bit more of an offensive threat mixed in there?" Farrell told the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson, referencing his conversation with Dombrowski. "We're trying to get more of a left-handed complement (to Young). While Chris Young has done an outstanding job since taking over those everyday duties, we're looking at how we can best match up if those needs arise late in games.

"We're looking at the alternatives that are there to us at Pawtucket right now."

In Triple-A Pawtucket, the Red Sox only have three left-handed hitters and two of them are switch-hitters - Jose Vinicio and Henry Ramos. The other is Brennan Boesch, who is on the seven-day disabled list.

Ramos is batting .348, but he was promoted from Double-A a week ago. Vinicio, who was promoted from Double-A a week before that, is struggling to the tune of a .227 average in 13 games.

So realistically, the Red Sox don't have a left-handed stick in Triple-A that can fill the void Farrell is looking for.

The only plausible option is 21-year-old Andrew Benintendi, who has six extra-base hits in his last 11 games at Double-A. But expecting him to make the jump to the majors a little more than a year after he was drafted out of Arkansas could stunt his development.

If Boston wants to add a left-handed bat, it won't be from within - they'll have to trade for it.