Former Padres Hunter Renfroe, Eric Lauer, Luis Urias playing key roles as the Brewers look to make the postseason a fifth straight year
Like he had so many times as an adopted San Diegan, Hunter Renfroe had breakfast Monday at the Broken Yolk Cafe, just a couple blocks away from Petco Park. The postgame plan likely called for chicken wings at Bub’s, as it often had once upon a time.
“It’s nostalgic,” Lauer said. “ … We all came up together. It’s like, this was your home. It’s your first love. You want to be here forever and it’s San Diego, which is hard to beat.” Lauer lamented his next turn landing on Thursday in St. Louis instead of in this series, but still revels in homering off buddy Chris Paddack while throwing six innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 loss last May in Milwaukee as he went on to post a 3.19 ERA over 118 1/3 innings.
Like Lauer, Renfroe had his ups and downs in the Padres organization. He put two of his 89 homers in four years in San Diego on top of the Western Metal Supply Co. building, hit 33 homers in 2019 and forced his way into the Gold Glove conversation with his improvement in the outfield.