Rob Refsnyder: ‘Wow, a team has put a little bit of confidence in you. You better work your (expletive) off’
Rob Refsnyder: ‘Wow, a team has put a little bit of confidence in you. You better work your (expletive) off’
Rob Refsnyder comes to spring training in a much different situation than a year ago.
He was a non-roster invitee after signing a minor league deal in December of 2021. The 31-year-old spent time with the Triple-A WooSox before getting called up to Boston.
Once Refsnyder arrived, he seized the opportunity that was in front of him. The veteran batted .307/.384/.497 with an .881 OPS and 6 homers in 177 plate appearances.
That earned him a new contract in the offseason. With a major league contract in hand, he’s not satisfied and knows he needs to up his game to stick in the bigs.
“This offseason, my wife and I celebrated our first guaranteed contract,” Refsnyder said, per Red Sox video. “I always got to a point where I was like, ‘I wonder what this is going to feel like?’ If it was going to feel any different.
“It’s almost even more of a driving factor. It’s like, ‘Wow, a team has put a little bit of confidence in you. You better work your (expletive) off. You better live up to it.’ “
This offseason he’s focused on improving his swing and making the most out of every at-bat.
Refsnyder has spent the last couple of years learning about the sequence to his swing.
“I feel like scouting and video is just so good now that even if you get into a rhythm, people understand that better,” Refsnyder said to Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe. “Like, which areas you’re hitting well and what areas you’re not. So I think it’s always just going to be changing. You have to be versatile enough to adapt.”
Refsnyder will look to build off a successful 2022 season. He provided some key moments from his amazing superman catch in Seattle to the home run over the Green Monster smashing the rear window of a parked car.
He knows that while he has a guaranteed deal, nothing is guaranteed and will continue to work hard to stick with the Red Sox and help the club win in 2023.
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