Luis Rengifo's Injury Creates New Options For Padres When Rosters Expand

[Steve Drumwright]

The San Diego Padres encountered their first significant hurdle Saturday as they make a push for the postseason when Luis Rengifo, playing second base, sustained a serious knee injury while making a throw home during a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rengifo, normally the Padres’ starting left fielder, was at second as manager Craig Stammen gave starting shortstop Xander Bogaerts the day off, with second baseman Jake Cronenworth sliding over to short.

While testing will be done to determine the severity of Rengifo’s injury, it is likely to end his season as non-contact knee injuries often do. Rengifo was taken off the field on a cart following the incident in the seventh inning. With no outs and the bases loaded and the Padres holding a 6-3 lead, Yandy Diaz hit a sharp single over center fielder Jackson Merrill’s head and off the base of the wall. Merrill fielded the ball and threw in to Rengifo, who was covering second. With one run already in, Rengifo saw that Taylor Walls was caught between second and third as Cedric Mullins was still on third. As Rengifo ran toward third base, Mullins took off for home and Rengifo turned to make an off-balance throw, which was off the mark as he crumpled to the ground, allowing Mullins and Walls to score, tying the game 6-6.

Rengifo has been a spark plug for the Padres’ offense since signing a minor-league contract after being released by the Milwaukee Brewers and coming up to replace Samad Taylor, who went down with an oblique injury. As it would happen, Taylor is now in line to replace Rengifo on the 26-man roster.

The switch-hitter has a .291/.375/.409 slash line with four homers and 17 RBIs in 38 games. He has also scored 19 runs. While he has started 21 games in left field, Rengifo has been versatile since joining the Padres. He has made two starts at third base and Saturday was his first at second base, a position he played plenty during his first seven seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.

But now Rengifo is down and the Friars must move forward. Taylor coming back up is the most sensible move. Taylor has spent the last two weeks on a rehab assignment with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, posting a .259/.375/.407 slash line in eight games. Taylor would likely have been the extra position player added when MLB rosters expand Tuesday.

The good news is that Taylor is a very similar player to Rengifo in that he brings energy to a team. Taylor came up from El Paso on June 3 as the team was struggling offensively and put up a .330/.410/.398 slash line with one homer, 11 RBIs and six steals in 28 games before injuring his oblique. Dustin Harris, the only other left-handed-hitting outfielder besides center fielder Jackson Merrill, has had a nice start to his Padres career, going 5-for-10, including 3-for-4 Saturday.

That part of replacing Rengifo is simple. But with the rosters expanding by two on Tuesday, with no more than one pitcher allowed, that creates more options for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. Eventually, designated hitter-left fielder Miguel Andujar will come back from his fractured right wrist, but that move won’t be happening in the next few days.

If sticking to players on the 40-man roster, that could mean that infielder Sung-Mun Song comes back up, but he was sent down to get consistent at-bats and has only been at Triple-A this week. Another option would be infielder Gage Workman, who was acquired along with Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline. Workman provides nice defense with the ability to play second, third and short while also able to slide into left field if needed.

Calling up a third catcher is also in the cards. Rodolfo Duran and Blake Hunt made their MLB debuts when injuries sidelined Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin. But like Workman, neither provides much offensively.

Of course, there is the fan-favorite option of calling up Padres Mission’s No. 1 prospect, Ethan Salas. The 20-year-old has been having a fantastic season overall and in particular since being promoted to Triple-A El Paso on July 29. Salas entered Saturday with a .325/.402/.554 slash line with three homers and 22 homers in 22 games for the Chihuahuas. Combined with the beginning of his season at Double-A San Antonio, he has a .295/.371/.450 slash line with 10 homers and 59 RBIs in 94 games. He also has 16 steals.

One final alternative could be a player who is already with the team on the taxi squad that could fill Rengifo's spot either until Monday, when the Padres begin a series on the road against the Cincinnati Reds, or Tuesday when rosters expand.

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