SAN DIEGO -- In the first half, Hunter Renfroe established himself as a force in the middle of the Padres’ lineup and one of the most productive two-way players in baseball.

He had emerged as an anchor in the team's future plans -- so much so, that the club felt comfortable trading fellow righty-hitting slugger Franmil Reyes. Renfroe was worth building around.

The Padres want that version of Renfroe back.

The second half has been a lot less kind to the slugging right fielder, and there isn't an obvious reason why. Renfroe is being pitched to the same way, and he isn't chasing a whole lot more.

"I'm just missing too many pitches," he said.

The numbers show it. After hitting .252/.308/.613 during the first half, Renfroe has slumped to a .171/.263/.295 line in the second half, going into Saturday. He's whiffing a bit more, and his quality of contact has been significantly worse. The underlying numbers show Renfroe hasn't been unlucky. He's just been a bad hitter for a month and a half.

In Renfroe's recent struggles, he sees an opportunity to grow. He says that, lately, he and the coaching staff have pinpointed some areas of concern. Things might start to click again soon, Renfroe said.

"You find the things that work for you when you're going well," Renfroe said. "Then you find the stuff that doesn't work when you're going bad. You've got to kind of figure out what to get back to.

"It sucks sucking. I'm going to get back to who I am."

Thing is, Renfroe isn't getting many chances to do that right now. With the acquisition of Nick Martini, the Padres have mostly started the lefty-hitting Martini and Josh Naylor in the outfield corners against right-handed pitching.

With an eye on 2020, the Padres made a conscious decision to ease off a struggling Renfroe. The club wanted an extended look at Naylor and Martini anyway -- two unknown commodities. It made sense to do that during a stretch with 13 right-handed starters in 14 games.

Twelve games into that stretch, Renfroe -- a regular for the previous 2 1/2 months -- has only started five of them. That’s going to change in the near future. The Padres see it as imperative that Renfroe find his form down the stretch. They'll throw him back into the mix this week with the Cubs slated to pitch at least two left-handed starters.

The club hopes those favorable matchups might jump-start Renfroe into a big finish. Otherwise, his once-promising season will leave more questions than answers headed into the offseason.

"We all want to see him finish strong," said Padres manager Andy Green. "He's worked incredibly hard, and he's done a ton of positive things this year, turned himself into one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. He's had some huge hits for us this season.

"It's been a fight for him over the last month and a half, and you hate to see that for somebody that's worked so hard and done so many good things. We want to see him get back on the field and finish strong."

Mejia on the mend

The Padres remain optimistic that catcher Francisco Mejía will return from a strained right oblique later this month. He hasn't felt any effects of the injury while going through throwing, blocking and running drills.

But Mejia, who has posted a .263/.315/.439 slash line in his rookie season, still has one significant hurdle to clear.

"He looks good," Green said. "But he hasn't swung a bat yet. ... The trainers want to give him a day or two more before they put a bat in his hands and have him start swinging. Hopefully we can speed that up and get him back here."

Padres raise awareness, help fight childhood cancer

In partnership with Stand Up To Cancer, all on-field personnel -- players, coaches, umpires and grounds crew -- wore gold ribbon decals and wristbands on Saturday to help raise awareness for childhood cancer. In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Padres honored 10 kids during the pregame ceremonies, all of whom are receiving cancer treatment. Those 10 "superkids" have each been paired with participants for the annual Padres Pedal the Cause event in November, which raises funds for local cancer research.

Additionally, cancer survivor Zainab Khan rang the ceremonial bell before the game. Parker Watson, a six-year-old cancer fighter, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. And 10-year-old cancer survivor Hannah Higgins served as the "play ball kid."