numbers game
Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State slugger from Crystal Springs, took a curious tumble in mlb.com’s latest Top 100 Prospects chart. Though he is batting .262 with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs in his first full season in Double-A, Renfroe slid to No. 84 from a preseason rank of 48. The concern seems to be his strikeout tendencies: 104 K’s this season with just 33 walks. Still, it’s not hard to imagine the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Renfroe playing right field for the San Diego Padres on opening day 2016. Justin Upton likely will leave San Diego as a free agent, opening up an outfield spot. Renfroe’s power – 41 homers in 2-plus seasons — might even play at spacious Petco Park, and his defense is a major asset; he has 33 career assists. … Other names of note on the prospect chart – the top 50 were revealed on MLB Network on Sunday – include No. 45 Tim Anderson, No. 37 Ozhaino Albies, No. 30 Jose Peraza and No. 14 Orlando Arcia. East Central Community College product Anderson, tearing up the Double-A Southern League (.308, 45 steals, 10 triples, 67 runs) as a shortstop in the Chicago White Sox’s system, jumped from No. 76 in preseason. Albies is an 18-year-old shortstop (now injured) who hit .310 with 29 steals at low Class A Rome in Atlanta’s system. Former Mississippi Braves second baseman Peraza, now in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization, moved up from 38 in preseason. One of the biggest jumps was made by Arcia, the slick shortstop at Double-A Biloxi in the Milwaukee system who started the year ranked No. 88. He had a walk-off hit in the Shuckers’ victory over the M-Braves in their second of two games on Sunday.