Hunter Renfroe has been worth every penny for the Red Sox
I’ll admit it when Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox signed Hunter Renfroe as a free agent this past offseason I wasn’t the most impressed. To me, it felt like just another bargain barrel signing by Chaim that would merely be a name on the roster. Hell, beyond the one season he spent with the Rays I didn’t know much about the outfielder. I have zero issues going ahead and admitting how wrong I was and I couldn’t be happier to have him in Boston.
For the last few years the Red Sox had one of the best outfields in the entire league, so why should I be excited about this guy? Well, not only is my dude great with the glove, has a cannon for an arm, but he can also hit baseballs to the moon.
The beginning of the season was nothing to brag about for Renfroe and I was probably one of the one’s calling for his occupational head, but he’s more than turned this around and is now one of my favorite players to watch.
His level of play hasn’t gone unnoticed as his skipper has more than enough quality things to stay about him.
"“The last two months, he has been playing All-Star caliber baseball,” said manager Alex Cora. “We know what he can do defensively. The way he’s playing, people need to start recognizing him as one of our best players.”"
In his last four games, Renfroe has six his including a double and two homers. Those two homers came in last night’s come from behind win against the Royals where he was responsible for three of Boston’s six runs. Not a bad night at the office.
As for the season as a whole, he’s got a .272/.330/.473/.802 slash with 11 homers, 15 doubles, and 40 RBI. If he had been going at this pace for the entire season and not just over a recent short span, he’d be an All-Star. Sadly, his surge up the stat sheet came too late and he won’t get the nod.
Still, even if he can’t play in the All-Star Game what he’s doing for the Red Sox right now is far more important. Not only is he keeping the opposition at bay as teams don’t want to test his arm, but now his bat is putting them on their heels as well.
It really doesn’t matter what side of the ball Hunter is on, he can hurt you, and he can hurt you in a hurry. For a guy I honestly had no real knowledge of when he signed, I can’t take my eyes off of him when he’s in the lineup.
Red Sox skipper Alex Cora credits Renfroe’s increased batting stats to his patience at the plate and being more selective with what he swings at. As we all know, guys with his level of power can be boom or bust, but Hunter is proving that he can have that explosiveness while also not being a detriment to his team. He doesn’t have to hit the ball 400ft, I mean he’ll do it, but he’ll do it while sprinkling in some singles and doubles too.
"“We gave him some good matchups but he has created some matchups for himself,” Cora said. “It’s all about him. He started hitting the other way. He has been more selective lately. You look at his OPS the last 30 games, he’s above average. This is a guy who — yeah, he had power and we envisioned that — but he’s becoming a good hitter.”"
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On any given night fans will usually look to the big names in the lineup to get the job done. Alex Verdugo, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez have become Boston’s version of the Four Horsemen, the baddest dudes on the block that not a single soul wants to mess with. The problem is, Renfroe has more than inserted his name into that conversation, and now opposing pitchers have another monster they have to worry about lurking in the batting order.
At only $3.1M for the year, the outfielder has become more than a steal for Bloom. While not all of his “land of Misfit Toys,” signings have panned out, this one is more than a success. I would honestly love to see him get another year from the Red Sox, especially as they continue to develop Jarren Duran. He’ll be in arbitration so they will most likely have to give him a raise but we’ve seen Chaim give worse players more money, so pay the man.
This season has already more than exceeded any of the expectations that the world had for the Red Sox. Boston has spent a majority of the campaign either in first place or not far from it. A big reason for their success this season is the high level of play coming from Renfroe. With this team more than on track to get back to October baseball, I can’t wait to see what he can do as the Fall Classic approaches. If he can keep with what he’s been doing as of late, we may be seeing him raising some hell in the postseason.