Hunter Renfroe update

[HSVDawg]

Following stats show Hunter's numbers through yesterday:

The good:
.713 OPS (5th on the team among regulars)
15 HR (tied for the team lead with W. Myers)
37 RBI (3rd on team, behind two others tied for first with 40 RBI)

The not so good:
BA .217 (2nd to last among regulars, but ahead of 3B Ryan Schimpf)

The improving:
22 walks (up significantly over the last several weeks as has been discussed)

Overall, he's more than holding his own given that this is technically still his rookie year. I'd expect the Padres to keep him up all year without question, especially when you consider that they are 32-46 and not looking at making any type of run in the NL West.

[smootness]

Oh he'll stay up, there's no question about that. He's figuring things out, if he can get that BA to around .250 he's suddenly a very productive player.

And that should be pretty easily doable. His BABIP is sitting at .251 right now; if you normalize that just to .300 (it was well over .300 throughout the minors and in his brief MLB stint last year), then his line is suddenly something like .249/.308/.478, which looks much better and bumps him up into positive value, even with his surprisingly bad defense. His baserunning has been good, though.

[MetEdDawg]

2nd among rookies in homers. The raw power will keep him up, but he's going to have to work on his swing and mental approach big time.

I've been watching him this series (I'm a big Braves fan) and he's got poor situational approaches. Struck out on a 3-2 pitch last night where he almost swung himself out of his shoes. He's pulling off on outside pitches, especially when he's down in the count (which we saw him do with us), and he's not staying on pitches. Hands are getting outside the baseball too much. He's got a home run swing but that's about it. Everything looks the same and that's bad.

Why any team would throw him a FB middle in is beyond me. Mix hard and soft away with a few FB way up and dare him to hit the ball opposite field or try and get on top of a high FB. He's gonna have to make some adjustments long term. He's striking out 30% of the time too. That's way too high.

[Bubb Rubb]

Following stats show Hunter's numbers through yesterday:

The good:
.713 OPS (5th on the team among regulars)
15 HR (tied for the team lead with W. Myers)
37 RBI (3rd on team, behind two others tied for first with 40 RBI)

The not so good:
BA .217 (2nd to last among regulars, but ahead of 3B Ryan Schimpf)

The improving:
22 walks (up significantly over the last several weeks as has been discussed)

Overall, he's more than holding his own given that this is technically still his rookie year. I'd expect the Padres to keep him up all year without question, especially when you consider that they are 32-46 and not looking at making any type of run in the NL West.

I wouldn't put a .713 OPS in the "good" category. That's terrible for a corner outfielder.

[HSVDawg]

I wouldn't put a .713 OPS in the "good" category. That's terrible for a corner outfielder.

I was just saying it's good (or at bare minimum acceptable) relative to his teammates and also keeping in perspective that he is a rookie. Obviously if he was in his 4th year, that wouldn't be great. His numbers are very typical of most power hitting rookies before they learn to refine their approach. I'm not sure why fans (especially MSU fans) judge him by the standard of a veteran player when he has barely over a half season of MLB under his belt.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Following stats show Hunter's numbers through yesterday:

The good:
.713 OPS (5th on the team among regulars)
15 HR (tied for the team lead with W. Myers)
37 RBI (3rd on team, behind two others tied for first with 40 RBI)

The not so good:
BA .217 (2nd to last among regulars, but ahead of 3B Ryan Schimpf)

The improving:
22 walks (up significantly over the last several weeks as has been discussed)

Overall, he's more than holding his own given that this is technically still his rookie year. I'd expect the Padres to keep him up all year without question, especially when you consider that they are 32-46 and not looking at making any type of run in the NL West.



I disagree about the walks being up significantly over the last several weeks. He has actually regressed the last month.

In April his walk to strikeout ratio was 2/28. He had a .216 BA and a .231 OBP.

In May he showed patience. So his walk to strikeout ratio was 15/30. It resulted in .255 BA and a .358 OBP.

He has regressed the last several weeks. In June his walk to strikeout ratio is 5/25. It has resulted in .176 BA and a .239 OBP.

[Bully13]

That's batting avg Will get him nowhere.

[louisvilledawg]

That's batting avg Will get him nowhere.

https://media.tenor.co/images/aab75f900550cf65f01c1071565c6786/raw

[Dawg61]

He'd be leading the NL Rookies in homeruns if there wasn't a freak playing for the Dodgers right now who I think is gonna win NL MVP.

[Bubb Rubb]

I was just saying it's good (or at bare minimum acceptable) relative to his teammates and also keeping in perspective that he is a rookie. Obviously if he was in his 4th year, that wouldn't be great. His numbers are very typical of most power hitting rookies before they learn to refine their approach. I'm not sure why fans (especially MSU fans) judge him by the standard of a veteran player when he has barely over a half season of MLB under his belt.

I'm proud that he's made it. But you have to have a shred of objectivity too. His OPS isn't good enough. As far as comparing him to a 4th year veteran, they are all major leaguers. Sure he can and hopefully will improve. But don't post something overstating how well he's doing and then get your nose out of joint when someone objects. The fact is he has a long, long way to go. I am rooting for him, but I'm also realistic about it all. He doesn't walk nearly as much as he should, he doesn't get on base nearly as much as he should, and I would expect it's his defense, and not his raw power that's keeping him in the show.

[HSVDawg]

I'm proud that he's made it. But you have to have a shred of objectivity too. His OPS isn't good enough. As far as comparing him to a 4th year veteran, they are all major leaguers. Sure he can and hopefully will improve. But don't post something overstating how well he's doing and then get your nose out of joint when someone objects. The fact is he has a long, long way to go. I am rooting for him, but I'm also realistic about it all. He doesn't walk nearly as much as he should, he doesn't get on base nearly as much as he should, and I would expect it's his defense, and not his raw power that's keeping him in the show.

He has 8 errors and a .939 fielding percentage in the corner outfield spots. His defense has been worse than his offense. Objectively, he is a typical power hitting rookie. He has not been exceptional but he has done way more than enough to warrant a roster spot and starting position on a team that doesn't have many rookies. I expect him to continue to be up and down probably for the remainder of the season, but probably make a big leap next year. My post wasn't overstating his performance by saying he has been great. I only said he has been more than adequate, which is true.

[Tbonewannabe]

I'm proud that he's made it. But you have to have a shred of objectivity too. His OPS isn't good enough. As far as comparing him to a 4th year veteran, they are all major leaguers. Sure he can and hopefully will improve. But don't post something overstating how well he's doing and then get your nose out of joint when someone objects. The fact is he has a long, long way to go. I am rooting for him, but I'm also realistic about it all. He doesn't walk nearly as much as he should, he doesn't get on base nearly as much as he should, and I would expect it's his defense, and not his raw power that's keeping him in the show.

It doesn't help that he is playing on the shitastic Padres. It is more of his approach at the plate than his swing. He needs to understand that sometimes it is better to get a bloop single than try to hit everything 450 feet. He has the raw tools of an Allstar but we will see if he can put it all together. Right now he is hitting similar to Bautista. Around a .230 avg with 30 - 40 HRs will keep you up but that is very feast or famine.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Playing for the Padres really hurts. They have very base runners on in front of him, and little protection behind him. Pitch recognition and strike zone discipline are where he must continue to improve. That will allow him to see better pitches.

I think the defense is a little overblown. He has settled down in right field. I don't expect the high number of errors to continue.

He is 1-1 with a single so far tonight.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

So far tonight is a single, a deep fly out to right center, and a two-run bomb to center

[HSVDawg]

So far tonight is a single, a deep fly out to right center, and a two-run bomb to center

Not hurting his cause one bit this evening. Atta boy Hunter.

ETA: Game is on Fox Sports Southeast (649 on DirecTV)

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Single in his 4th at bat. Now 3-4 on the night.

[HSVDawg]

Make it a 3-hit night for Renfroe. Single through the left side in the 7th.

[starkvegasdawg]

HR went 439'. Wouldn't have been out of Yellowstone.

[Bubb Rubb]

He has 8 errors and a .939 fielding percentage in the corner outfield spots. His defense has been worse than his offense. Objectively, he is a typical power hitting rookie. He has not been exceptional but he has done way more than enough to warrant a roster spot and starting position on a team that doesn't have many rookies. I expect him to continue to be up and down probably for the remainder of the season, but probably make a big leap next year. My post wasn't overstating his performance by saying he has been great. I only said he has been more than adequate, which is true.

His defense has been more of an aberration. He projects to be above average with a plus glove and a plus plus arm. I am sure nobody in the Padres organization is worried about his defense. He has to prove he can adjust to the league with his bat as teams adjust to him with their pitching. It's the single biggest thing rookie hitters have to overcome and some of the best prospects have failed. I'm hopeful but he has a long way to go.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

HR went 439'. Wouldn't have been out of Yellowstone.

You are correct that it would not have been out of Yellowstone. But 439' is still a bomb.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

I've watched Hunter a good bit this year. I swear he would be hitting .280 with 20 homers if he wouldn't chase pitches so much. There's a fine line between being aggressive and being stupid. He has too often been stupid and swung at too many pitches out of the zone. If he can learn to be more patient and lay off the balls, then attack the stuff in the strike zone, then he's going to play a long time. Otherwise he hits .220 for his career. MLB is a tough game.

[smootness]

His defense has been more of an aberration. He projects to be above average with a plus glove and a plus plus arm. I am sure nobody in the Padres organization is worried about his defense. He has to prove he can adjust to the league with his bat as teams adjust to him with their pitching. It's the single biggest thing rookie hitters have to overcome and some of the best prospects have failed. I'm hopeful but he has a long way to go.

He does not project to have a plus glove, and the metrics say that he definitely doesn't.

[HSVDawg]

His defense has been more of an aberration. He projects to be above average with a plus glove and a plus plus arm. I am sure nobody in the Padres organization is worried about his defense. He has to prove he can adjust to the league with his bat as teams adjust to him with their pitching. It's the single biggest thing rookie hitters have to overcome and some of the best prospects have failed. I'm hopeful but he has a long way to go.

Nobody said anyone was worried about his defense. He's a corner OF, that is rarely the case with any of them because its not a premium defensive position. But, his D has been much farther below par than his hitting has been. So saying he is only staying up because he throws somebody out once every 12 games or so is a patently false statement.

[smootness]

He's staying up because he is a promising prospect who tore up the minors and is showing positive things offensively, and because the Padres suck.

[HSVDawg]

He's staying up because he is a promising prospect who tore up the minors and is showing positive things offensively, and because the Padres suck.

Absolutely correct.