Asuaje, Renfroe, Sanchez Dart Across Country

CHARLOTTE—It’s been a whirlwind week for Padres prospects Carlos Asuaje and Hunter Renfroe and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.

All three players participated in both the Futures Game in San Diego and the Triple-A All Star Game in Charlotte, jetting back and forth across the country to do so.

“It’s a lot of travel, that’s for sure,” Renfroe said. “I think that’s the hardest part, getting here. Once you get here, adrenaline takes over and you play. We’re having a lot of fun, and I see this as my vacation.”

It’s some vacation for Asuaje and Renfroe. The two played a game in Albuquerque last Wednesday night, flew to Salt Lake City (486 miles) for a Thursday night game, flew back to El Paso (691 miles) Friday to get fresh clothes, flew to San Diego (628 miles) Saturday so they could play in the Futures Game on Sunday, then flew across the country to Charlotte (2,079 miles) Monday for the Triple-A All Star Game.

That’s a total of 3,884 miles in six days. But Asuaje looked at it as part of an experience he’ll always remember.

“Everybody’s saying, ‘Oh, the travel must be so tough,’ but honestly, it’s such an honor to be here and amongst these guys, and on Sunday, it was unbelieveable,” Asuaje said. “(It) was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and my family, and to represent the entire city of San Diego.”

Sanchez had relatively simpler travel plan, as Scranton was at home before the Futures Game. Still, he went back to Scranton on Monday before coming down to Charlotte for Wednesday night’s game. He’s still happy to get to experience it.

“It’s been tough, because there are a lot of flights to catch,” Sanchez said. “A lot of stops—one stops, two stops—it’s been crazy. But I’m really happy I got to do it. The Futures Game felt like a big league game.”

Sanchez started at catcher in both games, going 0-for-2 in the Futures Game for the World team and 0-for-1 in the Triple-A All-Star Game for the International League.

Asuaje didn’t start, but went 2-for-2 with a run scored and played third base for the World as they came back to beat the U.S. team 11-3. He then started at second base and led off for the Pacific Coast League, going 0-for-3 with a walk and playing the whole game.

Renfroe started in right and batted fourth for the U.S. team, but went 0-for-2 with a walk before getting replaced by Phillies prospect Dylan Cozens. For the PCL, he also went 0-for-2 before being subbed out.

For the El Paso teammates, playing on different teams in San Diego was a fun and unique experience.

“It was a nice breakup of the monotony of the season,” Asuaje said. “I’ve been with him, and I’ve seen what he can do this year. But it’s one of those things where you still have fun competing again each other, even when you’re on the same team.”

Renfroe added, “I got to see what’s it feels like to be a visiting team against us. To see Manny in center field and Carlos at second base, and for them to hit the ball well, it was really special to see what we’re blessed with in El Paso.”

And along with El Paso teammate Manuel Margot, the Padres prospects got booming cheers from the hometown fans, something that both said they will remember for the rest of their lives.

“The energy the crowd brought was just unreal,” Asuaje said. “When we were announced as the hometown guys, the eruption they gave us was unbelievable. I felt at home, really.”

“The game was unbelievable, but that may have been the top part,” Renfroe said.