Dustin Hunter Renfroe (born January 28, 1992) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the Los Angeles Angels of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres,

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. Renfroe received a scholarship to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Padres selected Renfroe in the first round of the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2016, was traded to the Rays before the 2020 season, signed with the Red Sox before the 2021 season, was traded to the Brewers after the 2021 season and was then traded to the Angels after the 2022 season.

Early life

Hunter Renfroe was born and raised in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, to parents Todd and Tammy. He attended Copiah Academy in

Gallman, Mississippi Gallman is an unincorporated community in Copiah County, Mississippi, United States. Gallman is located along Interstate 55 and U.S. Route 51 south-southwest of Crystal Springs. Gallman has a post office with ZIP code 39077, which opened on No ...

, where he played for the school's baseball team.

Career

Amateur career

The

selected Renfroe in the 31st round of the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, but he did not sign. He enrolled at

, where he played

for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. On April 15, 2013, he was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Player of the Week. He was also named to the Golden Spikes Award watchlist and was the 2013 recipient of the

C Spire Ferriss Trophy The C Spire Ferriss Trophy was created in the fall of 2003 by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame to honor the Mississippi Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year. The trophy bears the name and likeness of Dave Ferriss. The trophy is cosponsored by ...

, given to the best college baseball player in Mississippi. From 2011 to 2012, Renfroe played for the Bethesda Big Train of the

Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan areas. The CRCBL is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NA ...

, where he broke the Big Train record for most runs,

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, and total bases in a season in 2012. Renfroe's number "11" was retired by the Big Train in 2012.

San Diego Padres

Renfroe was considered among the best prospects available in the

. The San Diego Padres selected Renfroe in the first round, with the 13th overall selection. Renfroe agreed to a $2.678 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

and began his professional career with the Eugene Emeralds of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League. After participating in the Northwest League's all-star game and registering the game-winning hit, the Padres promoted him to the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in August. Hunter Renfroe in 2014

Renfroe began the 2014 season with the Lake Elsinore Storm of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. In 69 games for Lake Elsinore, Renfroe had a .295 batting average, 16

s, and 52

(RBIs). He was promoted to the

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

of the Class AA

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

during the season. Renfroe played in the 2014

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. After the season, the Padres assigned Renfroe to the Arizona Fall League to continue his development. Renfroe began the 2015 season with San Antonio and received a promotion in August to the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Class AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. He played in 21 games for El Paso. For the season, Renfroe had a .272 average with 20 home runs and 78 RBIs, including a .333 average and six home runs with 24 RBIs with El Paso. The Padres invited Renfroe to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2016. He opened the 2016 season with El Paso. He won the 2016

Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award The Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Pacific Coast League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. From 1932 to 1947, the ...

. Following the 2016

Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game The Triple-A National Championship Game is a single interleague postseason baseball game between the league champions of the two affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball (MiLB)—the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast Lea ...

, the Padres promoted Renfroe to the major leagues on September 21. He made his first plate appearance as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

that same night, getting intentionally walked by Arizona Diamondbacks reliever

Edwin Escobar Edwin José Escobar (born April 22, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diam ...

. He batted .371 in 11 games for San Diego. Renfroe made the Padres'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster in 2017 as the starting right fielder. On August 19, Renfroe was optioned to El Paso due to his declining performance in reaching base. He was recalled to the majors on September 18 after the end of the Triple-A season. Renfroe finished the 2017 season with a batting line of .231/.284/.467 and 26 home runs with 117 starts in right field. Renfroe began the 2018 season primarily starting only against left-handed pitching, but picked up more starts after

Wil Myers William Bradford Myers (born December 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padre ...

got injured. He led the Padres in home runs in 2018 with 26.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 6, 2019, Renfroe,

Xavier Edwards Xavier James Edwards (born August 9, 1999) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the Miami Marlins organization. Amateur career Edwards graduated from North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida. As a senior, he batt ...

, and a player to be named later (PTBNL) were traded to the

in exchange for

Tommy Pham Thomas James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston R ...

and

Jake Cronenworth Jacob John Cronenworth (born January 21, 1994) is an American professional baseball infielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Cronenworth was born and raised in eastern Michigan. He played three seasons of college baseb ...

. The PTBNL,

Esteban Quiroz Jesús Esteban Quiroz Ortiz (born February 17, 1992) is a Mexican professional baseball infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization. He made his MLB debut in 2022 for the Cubs. He plays on the Mexico national baseball team. Career Tigres de Qui ...

, was named in March 2020. In a shortened 2020 season, Renfroe slashed .156/.252/.393 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs over 42 games. On November 20, 2020, Renfroe was designated for assignment. On November 25, 2020, Renfroe became a free agent.

Boston Red Sox

On December 14, 2020, Renfroe signed a one-year, $3.1 million contract with the

. He began the season as a regular member of Boston's outfield, and hit his 20th home run with the Red Sox on August 13, having batted .256 with 68 RBIs to that point in the season. Renfroe was placed on the bereavement list on August 26, due to the death of his father. He returned to the Red Sox on August 31. Overall with Boston during the regular season, Renfroe played in 144 games while batting .259 with 31 home runs and 96 RBIs. He also played in 11 postseason games, batting 7-for-36 (.194) as the Red Sox advanced to the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

Milwaukee Brewers

On December 1, 2021, the Red Sox traded Renfroe to the

in exchange for

Jackie Bradley Jr. Jackie Bradley Jr. (born April 19, 1990), nicknamed "JBJ", is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays. List ...

, David Hamilton, and Alex Binelas.

Los Angeles Angels

On November 22, 2022, the Brewers traded Renfroe to the Los Angeles Angels for Janson Junk,

Elvis Peguero Elvis Antonio Peguero (born March 20, 1997) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was signed as an international free agent by the New York Yankees in 2016 and made his MLB debu ...

, and

Adam Seminaris Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players in the Milwaukee Brewers system. Players Jackson Chourio Jackson Bryan Chourio (born March 11, 2004) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. ...

Personal life

Renfroe married Courtney Beach on December 5, 2015, in their hometown of Crystal Springs. Renfroe is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

References

External links

*
Mississippi State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renfroe, Hunter 1992 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders San Diego Padres players Tampa Bay Rays players Boston Red Sox players Milwaukee Brewers players All-American college baseball players Baseball players from Mississippi Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players People from Crystal Springs, Mississippi Eugene Emeralds players Fort Wayne TinCaps players Lake Elsinore Storm players San Antonio Missions players El Paso Chihuahuas players