Who are some offensive standouts early on in Sox spring training?
Tim Hyers sounded excited as he went through the names. The Red Sox hitting coach is working with a good mix of veteran and young guys this spring, and many who he’s still getting to know, and he’s been pleased with what he’s seen early in camp.
Spring training is just more than a week old, but plenty of time to come away with some good first impressions, whether they’re completely new to the Red Sox or just to get an idea of how returning players used their offseason and the adjustments they made. Here are some players who have specifically caught Hyers and the Red Sox’ eye early on:
Hunter Renfroe
The Red Sox signed Renfroe as their first significant free-agent acquisition of the winter after the power-hitting outfielder spent 2020 on a run to the World Series with the Rays. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom joked that Renfroe peppered the Mass. Pike last season when the Rays came to town -- he had two homers in a 17-8 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park -- and so far in camp, they’re certainly seeing that power come to life.
“Hunter Renfroe has bazooka power right now,” Hyers said. “He’s a veteran, he comes in knowing what he wants to do and it’s really fun to see him go to work because he gets in, gets his work done and it’s very clean work, not any wasted work. The young guys, it really helps them see a guy like Hunter Renfroe work, because it’s very clean and very consistent, but he knows exactly what he needs to do to get ready and he gets it done, gets out on the field and does his thing and you can tell