18 Apr

the power of power

Hunter Renfroe is a good outfielder with a great arm. The former Mississippi State star also runs pretty well for a 230-pound dude. But never mind that. It’s his ability to hit dingers that grabs our attention. The Crystal Springs native hit his 161st big league homer on Monday, a three-run blast in the first inning that boosted the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-4 win over Boston on Patriots Day at Fenway Park. Renfroe has moved past Bill Melton and Frank White (both with 160) and into eighth place on the all-time homer list of Mississippi natives in the majors. (Dmitri Young, with 171, is next in Renfroe’s sights.) Renfroe was a power prodigy in high school, belting an MAIS record 20 bombs for Copiah Academy back in 2010. He went deep 16 times as a junior at State in 2013, earning All-America honors and then getting drafted in the first round by San Diego. He continued to rake in the minors, belting 77 homers over parts of four seasons before his first big league call-up in 2016. He got his first MLB bomb in his fourth game. In his five full seasons in the majors (not counting 2020), Renfroe has hit 26, 26, 33, 31 and 29 homers. Oddly enough, he has been traded three times since 2019. He’ll likely never be a .300 hitter, but he has improved in that area the previous two years, batting .259 for Boston in 2021 and .255 for Milwaukee last season. The Angels dealt three young pitchers to the Brewers to acquire Renfroe in November, hoping he can help power them into the postseason for the first time since 2014. With four homers in 16 games, he is off to a strong start.

29 Sep

another wow moment

The numbers are in. MLB’s Statcast numbers, that is, on Hunter Renfroe’s ginormous home run, the one that went where no ball has gone before – the roof of the Western Metal Supply Co. building beyond the left-field wall at San Diego’s Petco Park. Statcast put the distance of Wednesday night’s blast at 434 feet and the exit velocity of the ball off the bat at 109 mph. “I think we all know he’s got a ton of raw power. I wasn’t expecting that,” Padres manager Andy Green told mlb.com. Former Mississippi State star Renfroe, 6 feet 1, 220 pounds, now has four homers in 21 MLB at-bats, with 12 RBIs and six runs. No doubt there are some old Copiah Academy fans who are saying today, “Oh yeah, we saw this coming.” Renfroe hit a Mississippi private school-record 20 bombs for Copiah as a senior just six short years ago. He hit 15 homers his junior year at the Gallman school. He started slowly at State but flexed his muscles as a junior in 2013, belting 16 homers (while batting .345) and earning All-America honors. He also won the Ferriss Trophy that year and was drafted in the first round by the Padres. He hit 77 minor league homers before crashing The Show on Sept. 21. Elsewhere in MLB: Ole Miss product Seth Smith drove in two runs to help Seattle crush Houston 12-4 and hang 2 games out of an American League wild card berth. … Jarrod Dyson, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College star, got two hits, two runs and his 29th steal of the year as Kansas City beat Minnesota 5-2. But Ned Yost’s Royals were eliminated from AL wild card contention just the same. … The fingerprints of former Mississippi Braves were all over Atlanta’s 12-2 win against Philadelphia. The incredible Freddie Freeman extended his hit streak to 30 games; rookie Dansby Swanson – who can play a little, too – went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs; Daniel Castro had three hits and three RBIs; Mallex Smith scored a run; John Gant threw a scoreless inning; and Rio Ruiz got his first big league knock, a triple. … And a blast from another past: John Jaso’s cycle was the first by a Pittsburgh player since former Jackson Generals star Daryle Ward turned the trick in 2004. Ward had five career triples.