BOSTON -- Remember when Hunter Renfroe was the platoon player the Red Sox acquired for a modest $3 million in the offseason?
He is now an everyday player who is belting the baseball while playing Gold Glove defense in right field.
On a hot and humid Monday night at Fenway Park, Renfroe powered the Red Sox to a 6-5 victory in a game they trailed 5-1 early, giving Boston its MLB-leading 26th comeback win.
The right-handed hitter bashed two mammoth homers -- the first deep into the bleachers and the second a moonshot that hit a sign behind the Monster Seats.
The combined projected distance on homers No. 10 and 11 for Renfroe was 873 feet.
“I feel good. I like where I am right now,” said Renfroe. “I’m swinging the bat well, seeing the ball well. I think that’s the biggest part is seeing the ball before you hit it. I’m seeing the ball as good as I have in a long time, so I’ve just got to keep going, stay with my approach, stay with my routine in the cage and just try to stay healthy.”
Monday’s performance brought back memories of the last two-homer game Renfroe had, which was also at Fenway Park, but when he was a member of the Rays and not the Red Sox. That was Aug. 13, 2020.
“Yeah, [the second] one [last year] was a lot further than both of these. But yeah, kind of the same conditions, it was hot then and hot tonight. I felt good at the plate then and I feel good now,” said Renfroe.
Other than team success -- Renfroe’s Rays went to the World Series in 2020 -- everything else is better for him this year than when he hit .156 in 122 at-bats for Tampa Bay.
The good news for Renfroe this year is that he’s hitting and playing for a winning team. With Monday’s win the 48-31 Sox moved a game in front of the Rays in the American League East.
The original plan when the Red Sox signed Renfroe was that he would start against all lefties and occasional righties. Renfroe did little to change that blueprint when he hit .167 with one homer.
But in May, he turned into a threat at the plate and he has forced himself into the everyday mix over the last two months.
“This is more about him than us. He's earned his playing time. He's earned his spot in the lineup,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before Monday’s game.
Renfroe made that pregame quote stand up a few hours later.
In fact, Cora was even more effusive after the game.
“He’s on balance, he’s making good swing decisions,” said Cora. “He’s been doing this for a while. You start looking at his numbers, the average, the RBIs, the home runs, the on-base percentage, the last two months, he’s been playing All-Star caliber baseball. And we know what he can do defensively.
“The way he’s playing, people need to start recognizing him as one of our best players. He’s been huge for us. We always talk about the four guys [in the middle of the order], but what he’s doing has been amazing the last two months.”