Tag Archives: Hunter Renfroe

10 Aug

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.

29 Jan

this just in …

Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout from Crystal Springs, has been ranked as the ninth-best outfield prospect by mlb.com. Renfroe, a 2013 first-round pick by San Diego, has belted 27 homers in two seasons of pro ball. He reached the Double-A level last summer and played in the prospect-filled Arizona Fall League. Not yet on the Padres’ 40-man roster, he will go to spring training with the major leaguers.

07 Oct

it’s a start

The fast track seems to suit Hunter Renfroe. The ex-Mississippi State standout got off to a smooth start today in the highly competitive Arizona Fall League, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the Surprise Saguaros. Renfroe, San Diego’s first-round pick in 2013, was bumped up to Double-A at midseason this year and hit .232 with five home runs and 23 RBIs for San Antonio in the Texas League. He batted .295 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs in high-A ball. The Padres need power hitters, and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Renfroe, a natural right fielder, might not be far away. P.S. Before he became a highly successful high school coach, Jeff McClaskey was a pretty good player. The current Northwest Rankin High coach still holds a share of the career batting average record of .412 at Hinds Community College, which will honor McClaskey on Oct. 23 as part of its new Hall of Fame class. McClaskey played at Hinds in 1982 and ’83 before going on to Delta State, where he played for Boo Ferriss. About to begin his 25th year as coach at Northwest Rankin, McClaskey has 640 wins, 11 district titles and one state championship. … Also entering the HCC Hall is Rick Trusty, who set the Eagles’ single-season batting mark at .463 in 1975 and also hit .412 career. … Former Delta State star Eli Whiteside is a free agent again. The New Albany native, 34, who has bounced around the big leagues since 2005, spent most of this season at Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs system. He went 3-for-25 in his brief MLB stint.

24 Jun

seeing stars

Former Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe, who already has reached Double-A in his first full pro season, will play in the All-Star Futures Game at Target Field in Minneapolis on July 13. Renfroe, an outfielder drafted 13th overall by San Diego last summer, was batting .295 with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs at high Class A Lake Elsinore when he was promoted to Double-A San Antonio last week. The Crystal Springs native is 2-for-18 in five games but does have a home run. … Mississippi Braves second baseman Jose Peraza will play for the International team in the Futures Game. P.S. The 78th Texas League All-Star Game will be played tonight at North Little Rock, Ark., with former Mississippi Braves skipper Phillip Wellman, now with the Arkansas Travelers, running one of the clubs. More noteworthy here, however, is that it was 30 years ago this month when Billy Beane homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the TL All-Star Game in Jackson. Beane, then with the Jackson Mets, now general manager of the Oakland A’s, was not picked for the game initially but came when called because, he said, he felt like he owed it to the fans in Jackson. He was in his third year with the JaxMets in 1984 and would end that season in the big leagues. His home run in the All-Star Game rates as one of the greatest moments in Smith-Wills Stadium’s long history.

15 May

feeling a draft

The college season is winding down, which can only mean the MLB draft is sneaking up on us. It starts June 5 with the first round. No Mississippians are projected to go in that big-money round in Baseball America’s latest rankings, but things can change and often do. Columbia High shortstop Ti’Quan Forbes remains the top-rated Mississippi prospect, checking in at No. 55. Harrison Central first baseman Bobby Bradley is also on the BA list at No. 84. Two Mississippi college players are rated in the top 100: Ole Miss right-hander Chris Ellis (69) and Mississippi State lefty Jacob Lindgren (89). Last year’s top pick from the state was State’s Hunter Renfroe, 13th overall by San Diego. He is now at high Class A Lake Elsinore and hitting .255 with seven homers, 27 RBIs and eight stolen bases. East Central Community College product Tim Anderson also went in the first round last June, 17th to the Chicago White Sox. He is batting .243 with six RBIs, 17 runs and five steals at high-A Winston-Salem. P.S. Cody Satterwhite, a second-round pick by Detroit out of Ole Miss way back in 2008, is making a nice comeback in the New York Mets’ system. Playing at Double-A Binghamton, right-hander Satterwhite has a 0.89 ERA in 13 appearances. Now 27, Satterwhite has soldiered through injuries and surgeries and a tour of independent ball to get this second chance at making the majors. “The whole process, it’s helped me in the long run,” he told ESPN New York in a recent story.