At this point, the Red Sox must be thrilled with what they’ve gotten from Hunter Renfroe.
The right fielder signed with Boston to little fanfare and struggled out of the gate, fueling calls for the Red Sox to shuffle their outfield. However, since the start of May, Renfroe has been one of the best right fielders in baseball, especially on defense.
And Alex Cora has noticed.
“I even sometimes forget about talking (about) him, because you take him for granted,” the Red Sox manager said Monday during an MLB Network appearance. “Defensively, he’s, right now, the best defensive right fielder in the big leagues. And, offensively, he’s made some adjustments. He’s been able to stay on top of the fastball, go the other way. Controlling the strike zone, making more contact. And, right now, since we went to (Texas), you can see the difference. The at-bats are amazing, quality at-bats every night. And we’re very pleased with the way he’s going.”
Let’s dive into the numbers a bit.
Renfroe went 1-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks Sunday night in Boston’s victory over the New York Yankees. The 29-year-old now is hitting .485 with two homers during his 10-game hitting streak. Since batting .167 with one homer in April, Renfroe is hitting .324 with six homers and a .936 OPS over 30 games in May. For the season, the Mississippi native is hitting .269 with seven homers and a .776 OPS.
Generally, Renfroe ranks among the top American League right fielders in most offensive categories. His 24.9 strikeout percentage is 10th-worst among all right fielders, though.
But again, it’s Renfroe’s defense that really has stood out.
Here’s where he ranks among MLB right fielders in some of FanGraphs’s nerdiest categories:
DEF rating: 2.0 (first)
UZR/150: 11.9 (third)
UZR: 4.1 (first)
ErrR: 0.0 (third)
RngR: 1.4 (sixth)
ARM: 2.6 (first)
OOZ: 35 (second)
RZR: .912 (eighth)
BIZ: 68 (fourth)
Now, we don’t expect you to know what any of that means. Honestly, we don’t know what any of that means, even with the help of FanGraphs’s glossary.
But it’s no coincidence that Renfroe ranks near the top in all of those categories. Plus, the eye test alone should tell you that Renfroe has been awesome in right field this season.
Let’s finish this off with a couple paragraphs that probably won’t age well. Right now, Renfroe is having a better all-around season than Mookie Betts. Plain and simple.
He ranks higher than Betts in each of the defensive categories we listed. Renfroe has a higher batting average, a higher slugging percentage, more home runs and more RBIs than Betts. And he only has four fewer hits. As for analytics, Betts edges Renfroe in most categories, including WAR, but the complete opposite would be true if we started with May 1, which we obviously can’t do.
Plus, Renfroe has been surging for a team that has been playing great baseball, while Betts — .264 batting average since May 1 — has been just OK for a Los Angeles Dodgers team that is third in its division and hasn’t yet met preseason expectations.
But forget about Cora’s comments, the analytical mumbo-jumbo and the ultimately pointless Betts comparisons. What matters most is that Renfroe, making only $3.1 million this season, has been an above-average right fielder this season for the Red Sox.
Will water eventually find its level? Probably. But hey, we’ll cross that bridge when we reach it.
