At the beginning of the offseason, the Royals set their sights on adding a power-hitting outfielder to help lengthen their young lineup. Their sights were set on Hunter Renfroe, who signed a $5.5 million contract for 2024, with a mutual option worth $7.5 million in 2025.
The Royals desperately needed an impact bat, as they finished in the bottom ten in the MLB in team Runs, Hits, HRs, RBIs, SLG, and OPS in 2023. But in 2024, they look to turn towards a brighter future. With Bobby Witt Jr. becoming a young superstar, Vinnie Pasquantino coming back healthy, the emergence of Nelson Velázquez, and captain Salvador Perez presumably being the healthiest he’s been, Renfroe could take pressure off this lineup while adding a dominant force himself.
Renfroe has bounced around the past few years, but don’t let that fool you. He’s played on competing teams every year he’s been in major league baseball. Renfroe was drafted in the 1st round of the 2013 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres, five picks behind another famous Hunter, Hunter Dozier. He made his debut with San Diego in late 2016, stayed there till 2019, and since leaving the Padres, has played for five teams in four years. There’s postseason experience as well. Renfroe played for the 2020 Rays and 2021 Red Sox playoff squads. He always has been on a competing team, so he can handle the moment, time, and place of important baseball.
Renfroe has never really hit for average, though; his power sets him apart. In five of his six full seasons (not counting COVID-shortened 2020), he hit 26 or more home runs, 20 or more doubles, and had an OPS north of .750. 2021 was his standout season, where he saw career highs in batting average, doubles, RBI, and OPS. He’s not far away from that, having a very similar 2022 season, with 2023 being a bit of a down year. He started 2023 on the Los Angeles Angels, where they just have a way of underperforming. They hoped Renfroe would help Ohtani and Trout, but he was not enough for the questionably run organization.
Later in the season, he was put on waivers after the Angels playoff hopes diminished. He was picked up by the Cincinnati Reds to try to propel them into playoff stardom. Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work, leaving Renfroe’s weird 2023 season behind him. So Renfroe now looks towards 2023, where he joins some familiar faces in Kansas City, Matt Quatraro, and Paul Hoover from his time in Tampa Bay, and even newly acquired reliever Chris Stratton, who he played with at Mississippi State. Hunter Renfroe joined MLB Network’s Brian Kenny, to discuss what he thinks the Royals could be: “Once you make it to the postseason, anything can happen”, Renfroe said, “We very much have a chance to win the division, no question in my mind about that”.
What to Expect from Renfroe in Kansas City
One thing that wasn’t mentioned above was his defensive ability. Although defensive metrics aren’t too nice to him, his arm is where he’s special. In the past three seasons, he has been the 2nd outfield assist with 35. With an arm that would rival your best starting pitcher.
He’s not going to make the insane defensive catch, but he is still a very solid defender in both corner outfield spots. Which is why he is here. The Royals had putrid outfield defense in the corners, with outfield assists being the only thing they’ve proven to be elite. Renfroe adds to that but puts a very above-average defender out there. On baseball savant, his reaction time is actually very good, so in spring, Rusty Kuntz and the outfield staff can use that to polish him into a better defender.
On to the hitting side, I think Renfroe can be an x-factor for the Royals offense. Combined with the young talent surrounding him, he can be lethal. Everyone in their career has a downtime or season, and everything just kind of doesn’t work out. I believe that was the case for Renfroe in 2023. He could get back to his potential of 25 homers and 25 doubles, and with the Royal speedsters on the basepaths, he could even have more RBI opportunities in 2024.
That’s not even mentioning Kauffman Stadium into the equation. Yes, the home runs will probably go down a bit, due to the nature of the space. But I’m looking for him to have a career year in doubles with the wide-open gaps in the outfield and even down the line. That could lead to him becoming a better hitter as well, even though that’s a bit of a reach. He will strike out a lot, but his walk rate did go up a bit in 2023, so hopefully, he can continue to grasp onto that.
Overall, this wasn’t a flashy signing by the Royals, but a needed one. It could potentially look like an even sweeter deal in the middle of the season. He provides that veteran presence in the clubhouse that this team needs. Renfroe also gives you length and reliability in this lineup that it didn’t have before. That helps this young core way more than people think. Instead, we can now see MJ Melendez, Michael Massey, and Velázquez go down in the lineup to make them more comfortable. So they can turn into the players they’re meant to be. That is the effect Hunter Renfroe has on this team, and I can’t wait to see it play out.