San Diego Padres Promote Hunter Renfroe to AAA
By David Hill
With roster expansion quickly approaching at the major league level, this is the time of year where we will see a great deal of movement in the minor leagues. Players could get a brief trial at the AAA level before getting called up to the major league roster, or players can be shuffled around as other minor leaguers are called up. Sometimes, it could be that these moves are due to both situations, as may be the case with the San Diego Padres Hunter Renfroe, who has been called up to the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League.
Renfroe, the Padres top prospect and the 81st ranked prospect overall according to MLB.com, is a true power hitter. He had a nice breakthrough season last year, when he produced a solid .267/.342/.470 batting line with 21 home runs and eleven stolen bases. While speed is not exactly a strength of Renfroe’s, he has certainly proven to be rather opportunistic on the basepaths.
While Renfroe put up solid numbers overall for the 2014 season, he struggled at the AA level during his time there. In his 60 games for the San Antonio Missions, Renfroe had a .232/.307/.353 batting line, hitting only five home runs. It certainly was not the type of performance that the Padres were looking for from one of their top prospects.
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Placed with the Missions once again this season, Hunter Renfroe showed the type of development that the San Diego Padres had to hope for. During his time at AA this season, Renfroe produced a .259/.313/.425 batting line, hitting 14 home runs and 22 doubles. Even though that batting line may not appear to be that of a truly top prospect, Renfroe did hit eleven home runs in the month of July at AA, and produced a .313/.368/.557 batting line, demonstrating the potential that has made him one of the top power hitting prospects in the minors.
The biggest issue with Renfroe will be whether or not he can make contact consistently enough to display that tremendous power. As with any home run hitter, Renfroe’s swing can get rather long, leading to his elevated strikeout totals. That long swing, combined with his general aggressiveness, could lead to prolonged slumps offensively.
Hunter Renfroe might make a brief appearance with the San Diego Padres this year, even though it may be more likely that he makes his major league debut in 2016. It will be interesting to see how he acclimates to the AAA level and pitchers that will prey on his aggressiveness.