Padres Minor League Countdown: #11 Hunter Renfroe

The San Diego Padres rank our #11 top prospect at #4. We’ll tell you why this 2013 First Round selection from Mississippi State has dropped so far in our rankings.

Hunter Renfroe was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox, declined to sign with Boston, and chose to play college baseball at Mississippi State, where he was the recipient of the C. Spire Wireless Ferriss Trophy awarded for the best college baseball player in the state of Mississippi.  Converted from a catcher to an outfielder, he has a strong arm and great bat, but scouts wondered how he would do against more advanced pitching.

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Renfroe was hitting the cover off the ball for the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm, hitting .295/.370/.565 with 16 home runs through 69 games. Seems like he was on his way, they wern’t Kris Bryant numbers, but the Padres could use a power bat for the future like Drake, REAL quick! Then with his mid-season promotion to Double-A San Antonio, his numbers fell.

Renfroe went from hitting 16 home runs at Lake Elsinore, to just five with Double-A San Antonio, as his numbers dropped to .232/.307/.353. So could the Padres be rushing the slugger too quickly? Usually with promotions, numbers decline a little, but that’s a deep decline. This is where the looks at advanced pitching have probably hurt Renfroe.

Hopefully he’ll bounce back from his slump promotion to San Antonio. The Padres don’t want to make another mistake giving up on a possible Anthony Rizzo-type power hitter. Renfroe will be joining other top prospects like Trea Turner in the Arizona Fall League in October.

Keep The Faith.