Renfroe among farmhands to receive promotions

SEATTLE -- Two notable prospects will be on the move this week for the Padres when the second half of the Minor League season begins.

First-round pick Hunter Renfroe, is being promoted from Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore to Double-A San Antonio on Wednesday. Renfroe, an outfielder, was the 13th overall selection in the 2013 Draft.

Speedy outfielder Mallex Smith, who leads all of professional baseball in steals (48), will move from Class A Fort Wayne to Lake Elsinore. Smith was a fifth-round pick in 2012.

Renfroe will play in the California League/Carolina League All-Star Game on Tuesday. Smith will play in the Midwest League All-Star Game, which will also be played Tuesday.

Renfroe was hitting .295 with a .565 slugging percentage, 16 home runs and 52 RBIs in 278 at-bats. He also had 21 doubles and three triples. He is the Padres' No. 5 prospect, according to MLB.com.

"He had a great first half in Elsinore," said Padres vice president of player development Randy Smith. "The thing that I was very pleased with is he cut down on the strikeouts, the average came up and he carried that into June.

"I'm anxious to see what he does in the Texas League. He's a tremendous talent and he knows how to drive in runs."

Smith, 21, hit .295 with a .393 on-base percentage in the first half for Fort Wayne. He scored 56 runs in 65 games and was caught stealing 16 times.

"Mallex has matured, and he understands his part of the game -- getting on base and scoring runs," Randy Smith said. "... That's what a good leadoff hitter does. He has tremendous speed and still has a lot to work on, but he needs to move up at this point."

Right-handed pitcher Trevor Gott will move from Lake Elsinore to San Antonio as well. Gott, a sixth-round selection in the 2013 Draft, had 16 saves and a 3.16 ERA in the California League.

"He's got a big arm and he's started using his secondary stuff more," Randy Smith said. "It's a good opportunity for him to move up a level. I think he's going to have to make more consistent pitches down in the zone moving forward."