Renfroe on ESPN.com [Archive]

Will James

05-09-2013, 12:28 PM

Wow, Top 15 pick?

That could be a good recruiting tool.

Sam Wilson look at what we do!

Summary http://a.espncdn.com/i/in.gif:Renfroe is a high-impact college bat in a draft that has few of them, with a big, athletic build and the potential for three or more plus tools, but despite the strong junior year still has a ways to go with the bat.
He can show you three plus tools on the field -- power, running speed, and throwing arm -- with the power more like a 70 (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and the others grading out at 60.
At 6-foot-1, 216 pounds, he already looks physically developed enough to play in the upper levels of the minors. His swing is very rotational, with a good stride into the ball and excellent follow-through to generate all of that power. He lifts his back foot off the ground at contact, which isn't ideal since it means he's hitting entirely off his front foot, something a few good big league hitters have done, but that most don't.
His pitch recognition right now is a weakness, and pitchers can get him out just by changing speeds effectively. Renfroe hit just .252/.328/.374 last year with 51 strikeouts in 230 at bats after going 4-for-26 his freshman year, so while he was a known entity coming into college -- Boston took him in the 31st round in 2010 -- he came into this year without any strong history of performance, appearing in a second-tier summer league last year rather than on Cape Cod or in the Northwoods League.
In a deeper draft, he'd be a sandwich-round guy because of that history, as scouts and execs asked why he didn't hit in his previous two years in the SEC, and why he didn't play in a tougher summer league. In this year's draft, however, he's clearly one of the top five college bats, and offers more raw power potential than anyone other than Kris Bryant.

Player Grades

PRESENT http://a.espncdn.com/i/in.gif
FUTURE http://a.espncdn.com/i/in.gif

Hitting
35
55

Power
70
70

Plate Discipline
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Running Speed
60
60

Fielding Range
55
60

Arm Strength
60
60

Feel for Game
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