FORT MYERS — Andrew Benintendi wasn’t supposed to make his first start with the Red Sox yesterday.

It was only supposed to be a late-inning appearance, a lower-profile entry for one of the organization’s top prospects to make his spring training debut. He told his parents, Chris and Jill, they’d get a chance to see their only son play against major leaguers before they left town today.

But in the morning, when Benintendi exited the designated minor league section of JetBlue Park and found his way into the Red Sox dugout, he noticed his name on the lineup card, batting eighth and playing center field between Mookie Betts and David Murphy.

“It was a dream come true,” Benintendi said.

In the dugout he saw Betts, who gave him a pep talk and talked to Benintendi about college. Betts skipped his chance to play at the University of Tennessee when he signed with the Red Sox, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2011. Out of high school, Benintendi was drafted in the 31st round by the Reds, but opted to instead attend the University of Arkansas. He hit .276 with one home run his freshman year, added 15 pounds between seasons, then hit .380 with 19 homers and was awarded the Golden Spikes Award — college baseball’s Heisman Trophy.

The Red Sox selected him seventh overall last June. And on his first conference call with the Boston media, Benintendi, generously listed at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, gushed at the chance to one day meet Dustin Pedroia.

“Growing up I was a big Red Sox fan,” the Ohio native said at the time, “and I looked up to Dustin Pedroia, not the biggest guy but the way he competes and the way he works was motivation for me.”

Hitting six slots behind Pedroia in the Red Sox lineup yesterday, Benintendi stepped up to the plate in the second inning. He watched the first pitch go by and swung at the second, an 81-mph changeup from Twins righty Tyler Duffey. Benintendi stayed back and sliced it into left field for a single.

He popped up his second at-bat.

Pedroia came out of the game after the fifth inning. Told Benintendi had idolized him, Pedroia said, “Smart kid.”

Then he offered a scouting report.

“He looked good,” Pedroia said. “He looked like he was controlling his at-bats. That’s pretty good for a young guy when you see him control the count, have an approach and get a base hit. Then he just got underneath the ball. But he looked great out there.”

Benintendi’s swing might look long, but his hands are undeniably fast. He often makes contact and his control of the strike zone is almost unmatched for a player his age. He had more walks (34) than strikeouts (25) in 239 plate appearances during his first professional season between Lowell and Greenville.

In his third and final at-bat, Benintendi was out in front of a 91-mph fastball and yanked it into right field for another single.

“It was a pretty good day,” Benintendi said afterward.

While he showed off his contact game, he didn’t get a chance to display his power. He said he added five pounds in the offseason after hitting .313 with a .972 OPS and 10 homers last year.

“Obviously, he has a good-looking swing,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Even if he doesn’t get a couple of base hits, which, that was the case (yesterday), it’s still a compact swing … Bright things ahead of him.”

Benintendi often looks like he’s wearing a uniform two sizes two big while his head can get lost in a batting helmet. But he still projects to be a five-tool player, with incredible power to his pull side.

He’ll likely begin the year in A-ball, but there’s no telling how quickly he might be ready to start for the Red Sox in games that matter.

Like Betts and Pedroia, Benintendi might be small, but his bat plays big.

“Size doesn’t matter in this game,” Pedroia warned. “If you can play, you can play. It doesn’t matter for anything. He looks good. He has a bright future.”