Hunter Renfroe (OF, SD) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 2% of leagues

ANALYSIS: Hunter Renfroe, for me, has lived in the same space of the fantasy world as Mark Trumbo or Joey Gallo. Those are guys that I know I’ll almost never own because I hate guys that strikeout a ton and always swing for the fences. Sure, you can get 40 home runs, which Trumbo did in 2016 and Gallo did in 2017, but that’s literally all they’re good for usually. In my humble opinion, a power-only guy is no different than an empty average.

So with that, we come to Renfroe. The 26-year-old is doing his usual thing, albeit with less power production than one would expect. He’s striking out 26.4% of the time, which actually an improvement, but only has seven home runs to 197 plate appearances. Part of the issue is that he’s hitting fewer fly balls, but actually more line drives. This is due to a change in his approach, which has also yielded a walk rate nearly double of a season ago. Actually, the crazy part about that changed approach has led to the profile of a much improved hitter even if the counting stats aren’t showing that yet.

Renfroe absolutely obliterates the ball, producing hard contact on a whopping 50.4% of pitches he gets on the bat. He is also making slightly more contact overall, and swinging on pitches outside the zone much less. Renfroe will never be confused for Joey Votto, and his bat-to-ball skills were never the strength of his game, but even a modest improvement in these areas will allow Renfroe to put his power into play much more frequently. He’s an interesting add-in on a deal you might be looking at in deeper leagues, or a prospective add in case he hits.