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In an unexpected move, the Padres have made a swap of corner outfielders:
The Padres optioned a struggling Hunter Renfroe to El Paso. He had two extra-base hits in August. Jabari Blash has been recalled.
— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) August 19, 2017
Over his last ten games, Hunter Renfroe is 5-for-33 with 15 strikeouts. He has two doubles and three walks in there as well, but he’s been a whiff machine the last few weeks. His last home run was on July 25th, nearly a month ago. He hit two the night prior, so one could wonder if he became even more homer-happy. From an uneducated armchair scout’s perspective, it appears that his swing has gotten longer and his bat speed has gotten faster, which would be great if he was occasionally making contact... but he’s not. The team could be playing a little bit of a service time game, but there’s little reason to since his future doesn’t scream “superstar” right now. This is probably a message that he needs to earn his job like everyone else, and maybe he’s being given some time to make some needed adjustments.
Down on the farm, Jabari Blash had a monster July and has followed up with a nice start to his August. We saw during his most recent call-up that he has become more aggressive by swinging at more pitches in the zone while maintaining most of the discipline that gets him on base at an impressive clip. He’s getting the start in rightfield tonight, so let’s hope for a #BLASHTOFF to kick-start the #Blashwagon!