Hunter Renfroe has the big swing. He has the big arm. He has a pile of potential and promise, smothered in all that pop.

The 24-year-old outfielder, though, remains in future-shaping flux with the Padres.

It’s time to find out if he’s a big-league, everyday outfielder. It’s time to see if he’s prepared for next-level pitching and life inside Petco Park. It’s just time, period.

The Padres find themselves parked at the bottom of the National League West and — with the James Shields trade on the books and this week’s amateur draft looming — idling at an organizational crossroads.


What’s there to lose?

“The player kind of tells you when he’s ready to go to the next level,” General Manager A.J. Preller said. “He keeps putting himself on the radar. We’re going to keep having that discussion as we get deeper into the season. He’s put himself in that position.”

That discussion deserves to be elevated, sooner rather than later.

All signs point toward center fielder Jon Jay, a free agent-to-be and experienced left-handed bat, as ever-ripening fruit among the trade-whispers crowd. He entered Tuesday with an average of .296, a Padres best for those with at least 70 at-bats, and sat No. 1 in on-base percentage (.343) among everyday starters.


It’s easy to envision a veteran outfielder like Melvin Upton sliding his tough-to-move contract to center. That would open a spot for a corner outfielder like Renfroe to land a daily gig that provides real answers.

The Upton and Matt Kemp deals could gobble up two-thirds of the outfield for at least another season. Alex Dickerson, who is red hot and the PCL’s top hitter, logged a handful of big-league at-bats each of the last two seasons — a chance at a big-league glimpse. It’s clear the Padres possess a base stealer and potentially elite defender to fill gaps in Travis Jankowski.

Manuel Margot, a Baseball America Top 100 prospect along with Renfroe and shortstop Javier Guerra, is another ground-gulping outfielder suited for center — though only 21 and aimed to a 2018 arrival.

But what do you have in Renfroe? What do you have in your homegrown, first-round draft pick?


That’s a question the Padres need to answer.

Last season would have been too soon, despite Renfroe hitting .333 with Triple-A El Paso. He only collected 90 at-bats, which isn’t nearly enough to gauge how a player grinds through slumps and reacts to second and third laps against teams adjusting to a player. Early this season made little sense, given that moving too soon would have surrendered a year of contract control.

Now, though, he’s averaging .315 in 321 Triple-A at-bats covering two seasons, including .307 in 2016. The sample size is there, even if you factor in the hitter friendliness of El Paso.

The power is obvious: Renfroe is sixth among PCL hitters in home runs (12), RBI (43) and slugging percentage (.586). The arm previously has been named the best in the Padres’ farm system.


The Padres now must decipher whether Renfroe can consistently build at-bats that wear down pitchers, as well as punish baseballs.

“Some of the things that our development group and coaches asked him to do, be a tougher out while continuing to do damage,” Preller said. “He’s shown that in Triple-A. He’s got a lot of talent. He can impact both sides — big arm, power. It’s nice to see him be consistent early in the season.

“In his career, he’s carried clubs and he’s struggled. But we’ve seen consistency since spring training.”

For context, Renfroe is less than six months younger than Mike Trout and a little more than eight months older than Bryce Harper.


There’s no comparison between those perennial All-Stars and Renfroe, clearly. The two, though, already have more than 4,600 major league at-bats between them. All that experience at that age, once the resume crystallizes, is invaluable to an organization.

As the old saying goes: You don’t know what you don’t know. The Padres don’t know, don’t fully know, Hunter Renfroe.

Even if a trade involving Jay fails to materialize — and the Padres find themselves fading farther from 2016 contention — Renfroe deserves a shot in left as Jay and Upton sort out center.

That type of organizational aggressiveness can provide a jolt for fans, too. Nothing boils hometown britches during a bad season more than clinging to status quo. Rome burning amid fiddling, and all that.


Shake it up. Live a little. Signal that every position is earned.

More than anything, find out what you have in Renfroe. You might be pleasantly surprised.

On Twitter: @Bryce_A_Miller