The Padres announced that outfielder/infielder Luis Rengifo sprained his right knee in their 7-6 loss to the Rays on Saturday. He will fly back to San Diego for further evaluation, but manager Craig Stammen said after the game that it “doesn’t look good,” per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Rengifo suffered the non-contact injury when his knee buckled on an errant seventh-inning throw home from the area between third base and shortstop (video via Joey Johnston of MLB.com). After Rengifo remained on the field for a few minutes, he left on a cart. The Padres brought shortstop Xander Bogaerts off the bench to replace Rengifo and moved Jake Cronenworth from short to second base. It was just the third start Rengifo has made at the keystone since the Padres selected his contract on July 8. He has spent most of his Padres tenure in left field, where he has gotten the lion’s share of starts over Jase Bowen, Austin Hays and Dustin Harris.
Rengifo, an Angel for his first seven seasons, joined the Brewers for a guaranteed $3.5MM last winter. However, after Rengifo got off to a poor start over the first two-plus months of the season, the Brewers released him in June. He signed a minor league pact with the Padres a few days later. It didn’t look like a needle-moving transaction at the time, as Rengifo batted an awful .205/.280/.254 over 209 homer-less plate appearances with the Brewers. But the switch-hitting 29-year-old at least showed some positive signs as a Brewer. He recorded encouraging walk, strikeout and Statcast numbers, and his .233 batting average on balls in play looked likely to rise.
The Rengifo signing did not go as planned for the Brewers, but the Padres’ low-cost flier on him has worked out. Although Rengifo has slumped to a .663 OPS in August, he went into Saturday hitting a strong .296/.376/.416 with four homers in 142 trips to the plate as a Padre. He has been a solid contributor on a team that came out of the All-Star break a game under .500 but is now 72-64.
Currently a half-game back of the division-rival Diamondbacks for the NL’s last Wild Card spot, the Padres may have to place Rengifo on the IL. They are already without Opening Day left fielder Ramón Laureano (hip surgery), DH/infielder Miguel Andujar (fractured wrist) and outfielder Samad Taylor (oblique strain). Laureano is a long shot to return this year, but the Padres’ injury tracker at MLB.com suggests Andujar and Taylor could make it back in the next couple of weeks.
Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images (via Reuters Connect)
