Numbers Don’t Lie: Hunter Renfroe One Of MLB’s Best Since May 1

Hunter Renfroe didn’t exactly make the best first impression at the start of the season.

After signing with the Boston Red Sox in December, the 29-year-old was slow to get going with his new team. Through his first 19 games of the season, he hit just .167 and struck out 18 times. Renfroe knocked in eight runs, but only had one home run.

At that rate, it seemed like Renfroe was set up for another disappointing year, after he hit a career-low .156 with 22 RBI and eight homers through 42 games with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020.

But heading into the second half of the season, Renfroe appears to have found his stride. Check out how he’s fared over the last two months:

That look into his recent stats likely was prompted by his heroics in Monday night’s 6-5 victory over the Andrew Benintendi-less Kansas City Royals. Renfroe hit two home runs, with the first helping Boston bounce back from a four-run deficit and the second sealing the win.

It was Renfroe’s first multi-home run game with the Red Sox, and the 13th of his career.

What the stats don’t show is that he’s been a star on defense, too.

If All-Star Game voting were based on May and June, Renfroe would have a pretty serious case for joining the contingent heading to Denver.

But for now, it looks like the Red Sox will at least be represented in the infield, since Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts are the leaders at third base and shortstop, respectively, in starter voting through two days of Phase 2 voting.